Those who Linger in the Twilight
by Molten Thunder
Summary: The residents of Gensokyo never paid much attention to the outside world. Perhaps they should have. Perhaps if they had all this could have been avoided. Post Infinity War, no Endgame spoilers (yet).
1. Remilia

Those who Linger in the Twilight

Chapter 1

Remilia

* * *

As the last rays of the sun faded from the waking world, crimson eyes opened. A yawn, a stretch of her arms and wings, and the petite vampire rose. She paused for a moment at the edge of her bed, unwilling to fully leave its comfort as she reached for the cup of tea that had been placed upon her nightstand. Her hand met empty air. There was nothing there. Sure, she had overslept a bit, but Sakuya _always_ left a cup to help wake her up for dinner.

This was odd, and worrying. Perhaps her servant and friend was simply behind schedule and had lost track of time. Remilia cracked a smile at the thought, as if one who controls time could simply _lose track of it_. If she had, it was her right to ridicule her friend for the next few decades about her slip up. A giggle bubbled up and escaped her, it sounded high-pitched and grating on her ears in the gloom of her darkened bedroom before silence returned.

The smile fell off her face. It was silent. She sat a moment more on the edge of her bed and strained her enhanced senses.

Nothing.

No rustle of wind in the hall as a fairy maid passed.

No echoing footsteps as someone walked down the corridor.

No hum of distant conversation between her employees.

No barely perceivable laughter as her beloved sister amused herself in the basement.

No rustle of paper from the library.

Nothing.

Wait, no, there was a faint sound from above. A low tone, barely a whisper could be made out, but it was merely the wind passing over the building. Strange that she could hear the wind passing by the spires on the roof but not through the leaves of the vines that artfully covered the back of the house. Strange, and unsettling.

She shivered. There was an odd chill in the air despite the season and despite the fact that as a vampire temperature had little effect on her. Rising, she dressed quickly while humming to herself. Perhaps this was some sort of prank being played on her by those three fairies by the shrine- they had done similar things in the past and had been punished for it, but fairies never did learn. Grinning to herself, she strode towards the door with the thought of righteous retribution on her mind.

Her hand paused before door handle, a sense of trepidation running through her like an electric current. A nagging sense at the back of her mind that something was wrong but maybe if she ignored it and went back to sleep that everything would be as it should be when she woke. How stupid! She was a vampire, terror of the night, daughter of Dracula himself! She did not, could not, fear! That was an emotion for humans, not her.

Her hand moved forward, closed on the handle, and opened the door. It opened smoothly with a suitably dramatic and ominous creak, just right to terrify any foolish humans who thought to explore her 'haunted mansion' when she still resided in the outside world. The corridor was empty. She tried again, slower this time causing the eerie noise to echo down the empty corridor. Still no Sakuya.

She stepped into the hall. It was completely dark and empty. This didn't bother her as a vampire, but none of the lamps had been lit. Sakuya was really slacking off today! Another shiver traveled down her spine.

"Sakuya?" She called. The echoes that returned to her from down the darkened corridor sounded hesitant; almost scared. It sounded like a lost little girl, not her. Still her maid did not appear. The corridor remained empty.

'Obviously', the little vampire thought, 'she must be out on an errand. I will be magnanimous and forgive her absence when she returns.'

Turning, she went down the corridor towards the library. Just because she couldn't hear anything from her room didn't mean that Patchouli wasn't there. Her sickly friend had probably fallen asleep while reading again.

Suddenly something clattered on the stone floor and Remilia froze. Looking down she saw that she had kicked an odd crystal. While stooping down to pick it up she spied two more further down the hall. Collecting them she found they were warm to the touch and seemed to faintly radiate some sort of energy. While she had no idea what they were, Patche would surely know- she was the smartest person she knew!

With renewed determination she continued on her way, still encountering nothing but dark and empty corridors. She soon reached the great library and found it well-lit in contrast to the rest of the building. Passing through the great bookshelves she approached Patchouli's corner- a comfortable nook at the edge of the library. Massive tomes were open upon her desk and notes were strewn about. Her pen lay atop a sheet of paper and had spattered it with ink. Remilia flinched; her friend would be most displeased about that. Strangely the writing appeared to end in the middle of a sentence, the middle of a word even, as if she had dropped her pen and run off to do something mid thought. Maybe Marisa has invaded again and tried to make off with a few more volumes. But Patche had not returned.

Remilia stood there and strained her senses once more. The only sound to be heard was the slight crackle of the enchanted flames in the lamps. She stood there for what must have been an hour, and still Patchouli did not appear. Not even her assistant Koakuma was anywhere to be seen. Remilia was getting worried.

She left the library in a rush; surely someone else was in the house! Passing by countless rooms and through dozens of halls and staircases, she navigated the labyrinth that was her home with the ease of long practice accelerating the whole time. Soon she was standing before the basement door. Even if everyone else suddenly had a reason to leave the mansion, her sister would be here. Remelia could faintly hear something like music coming from the room and sighed in relief. Here sister was there, playing her games. She opened the door.

The room was dark and seemed empty, but there was a faint flickering light coming from the bed. Her sister had become fond of a handheld game from the outside world of late and had more than once stayed up far too late playing it and woken late. Moving silently to the bed she pulled back the covers. The game was on exactly as she had anticipated. It appeared that Flandre had been in the middle of a battle when she fell asleep, but her sister was not there. Headphones, from which the music could be faintly heard, were lying on the pillow. Flan however was not anywhere in the room.

Eyes wide, Remilia rushed to the door leading to the rest of her sister's suit, or "lair" as she liked to call it, and ripped it off its hinges. She rushed through and tore the rooms apart in her haste- Flan was just playing hide and seek with her, she must be!

Nothing. There was nothing. Her sister wasn't here. With frantic energy she rushed back upstairs and proceeded to systematically check the entire estate in the hopes of finding someone, anyone, who could tell her where her sister was.

Nothing. There was no one. She was alone in the mansion.

She rushed outside, blowing the main doors off their hinges in her haste. The garden was empty. But more than that, it was less than it had been. It almost looked like someone had gone and randomly blasted bits of it out of existence, including all the vines that had been growing on the house, which was ridiculous as Meiling would never allow such a thing.

Meiling! Where was she? At the gate? No. At her cottage? No. In the garden? No. What was going on?

She was hyperventilating, she knew. A panic attack brought on by the night's strangeness. She was a vampire, she was the night, and she was death! And yet here she was having a breakdown in her garden. She felt strangely detached, as if none of this was real, as if she was wandering around a dream- a nightmare. But she couldn't control herself. She couldn't control the trembling of her body or the tears streaming down her face. Remilia screamed and sobbed, pleaded with and threatened the unseen and intangible, fired waves of crimson magic into the air filling the sky with bullets.

No one came. No one heard. No one cared.

It was nearly dawn when she finally regained control, still trembling slightly. Whatever was happening, whatever had occurred, was clearly an Incident of some sort. Reimu would know what to do, how to fix this. She had to.

She flew quickly covering miles in mere seconds. Arriving at the shrine minutes before the sun rose, she threw the shoji doors open. It was empty. But of course it was it was early and there was no way Reimu was awake yet. The vampire stalked through the shrine until she reached the door leading to Reimu's bedroom and tore it open. It was empty. The bed had not been slept in. Reimu was gone, just like her companions, her friends, her family.

Collapsing, she curled up into a ball and began to weep. Marisa found her there motionless and dead to the world hours later.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Having watched Endgame a few days ago I was suddenly struck by this idea last night: what if Gensokyo was part of the MCU and affected by the Snap the same as everyone else? What would happen? How would people react? What would they do? How would this (eventually) impact Endgame? After my last exam this morning I sat down and started writing, and here we are just a few hours later with the start of a new story. I don't know how far this story is going to go, it was very spur of the moment, but I have some ideas. New chapters will be released as I deem them ready, which could mean every few days or there may be months between them (if I get very busy).

Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? Let me know in a review.

Note: I will work on my other story, it is not dead I've just had a very busy semester and it has only just ended (my last exam was this morning). I will get to it when I get to it but right now this has my attention.


	2. Marisa

Chapter 2

Marisa

* * *

At first when Marisa awoke everything seemed normal. The sun was rising, birds were singing, and her house was a mess. Today was going to be a good day!

The first inkling that something was odd came when she stepped outside. While her house and everything in it had been the same as ever, the clearing around her house was larger than she had remembered, and while the birds were singing as they always did in the early morning, there appeared to be less of them than yesterday. She shrugged, pulled out her broom, and shot into the sky. Today was going to be a good day, but first she had an appointment with Alice.

Marisa soared leisurely over the Forest of Magic whistling to herself. A few days ago one of her outfits had been torn during a battle and Alice was the best seamstress she knew. They were friends, perhaps not particularly close, but then again Alice wasn't really close to anyone or anything other than her dolls, and she owed Alice her weekly visit. If she was lucky, Alice would let her have breakfast. If not, then she could go eat at Reimu's place. No matter how much the shrine maiden complained about it, she never turned Marisa down.

Marisa slowed down, a frown on her face. Something felt off about the forest this morning. The miasma that was generated by the magical plants wasn't as thick as normal and she could actually see the forest floor in places. But, no matter, Gensokyo was a strange place on the best of days. It would probably be back to normal later.

She found the clearing around Alice's western-style two story house moments later and descended. Like the clearing around her own house, it too seemed larger than normal. Perhaps Alice had finally listened to her suggestion and decided to start expanding her house.

Landing, she hopped off her broom while it was still moving and rolled to bleed off momentum ending in a perfect pose. Damn she was cool! If anyone had been there to see it they would have applauded her talent. She sauntered up to the door and knocked. No answer.

"Yoo-hoo, Alice! Are you in? It's me Marisa!"

No answer.

She knocked again, harder this time. "Hey, Alice, I know it's early but you don't have to ignore me."

Still no answer.

"Maybe she's out, I didn't see any of her dolls after all," she said to herself. "Oh well, you snooze you lose!" And she opened the door and entered the house.

Looking around Marisa saw a number of dolls strewn about, but none of them were moving. Maybe Alice had gone out but left most behind, and not kept them active…? This, this was unusual. Oh well. If Alice wasn't around then she could grab one of her books and be on her way. That way Alice would know that she had been by and come seek her out. She'd barter returning the book in exchange for fixing her dress, and all would be good!

Marisa left after some thorough rummaging, book in hand, or rather grimoire in hand if she had guessed correctly. It had been hidden within Alice's bed, inside the mattress (there's no way that was comfortable!) and was covered in all types of seals that appeared to be failing for some reason. Alice had better fix those up when she came for it! Oh well, where to next? Rinnosuke's perhaps? She hadn't been there for a while but maybe he'd found something interesting, and maybe she could also swipe breakfast off of him; her stomach was beginning to grumble. Reimu wouldn't be awake this early and was always a serious grump if Marisa woke her, so no point in heading to the Hakurei shrine yet.

Soon she was soaring over a rather more mundane forest heading towards his shop. It too seemed a little thinner than she had remembered, but it had been a few weeks since she came by this way so maybe the Human Village had stepped up its logging. The weather had certainly been nice enough for it.

Landing lightly before his store she barged in without a care. "Yo, Rinnosuke, whatcha got for me today?" There was no answer. How odd. Then again it was barely an hour after sunrise and it was summer, maybe he was still asleep? She pushed passed the piled mounds of random junk from the Outside World into the back of the store. It was empty and his bed was made.

"Huh, I never took you for an early riser," she said to herself. Well, he wasn't there to stop her so she might as well grab something and go. Pity about breakfast though, but she still had options. Leaving the store with her prize (some object that looked interesting, it was blocky and shiny and covered in buttons) she took off once more. Maybe the Scarlet Devil Mansion would prove more fruitful? Her last trip to the mansion had been a week ago so she owed Patchouli a visit, besides the breakfasts there were the best! Or they were, when she was able to sneak past Sakuya to get to them. Stingy maid!

The miles passed quickly beneath her broom as she cut through the air. It was a bit odd that she hadn't seen anyone else yet, it was still early but the sun was above the trees by now so they should be up (and Remilia should be asleep). Soon she came upon the Misty Lake, its vast sparkling expanse shrouded with mists daring intrepid explorers to plunge its depths. She sighed in contentment; the lake in the morning was always a sight worth seeing. The petite vampire had chosen her home well, even if she could not properly appreciate the view being a vampire and all.

Marisa sped across the lake skimming the top of the fog leaving eddies in her wake. Laughing she gripped her broom with both hands and flipped upside-down for a time, before rocketing into several loop-de-loops and corkscrew turns. Ah, such fun, such freedom! Really, being a witch was the best thing ever.

She slowed to a stop over the center of the lake, laughter done. Where were the fairies? Normally there were dozens of them playing around the lake and she'd have been forced to play with (by racing or battling) several by this point. Not even that ice fairy Cirno who lived nearby was anywhere to be seen. How odd. Marisa continued forward more attentive than before, there were warning bells tolling in her mind, but with the ease of long practice she ignored them.

Soon she came upon the mansions' main gate, Meiling was nowhere in sight. 'Lucky!' she thought as she sped over it, then immediately took back her thoughts as she saw the garden. It was a mess. The normally immaculate gardens with their roses and hedges and flowers and vines (particularly grape vines, the mansion's inhabitants were fond of wine but they had to make it themselves) looked like a drunken oni had been through. Large patches of the gardens were simply missing, as if the hand of God had reached down from heaven and deleted them. No wonder Meiling wasn't anywhere in sight when she had to deal with this mess. Marisa only hoped that Yuuka never found out about this travesty, because if she did then someone would die slowly and painfully. She shuddered at the thought of Yuuka, she had once been lectured about the amount of collateral damage she tended to cause and to please stop doing so. The flower Yokai had been extremely polite and well-spoken, but Marisa knew what lay behind her façade having seen it briefly in her youth, and had always been very careful about where she fired her Master Sparks afterwards. Her eyes glazed over as she thought about the beautiful and cruel master of the Garden of the Sun and their few encounters. That woman terrified her.

'No, no reminiscing!' Marisa thought as she slapped herself back into the present, Yuuka wasn't there, she was on the other side of Gensokyo and she had a job to do- a breakfast to steal! She made a b-line for the mansion before stopping herself, out of habit she was heading for one of the library's windows, but if she wanted breakfast the fastest way was through the front door. The front door that was laying broken on the ground. What?!

The fact that the door was broken wasn't particularly surprising, she'd done so herself multiple times. However the door not only appeared to have been broken from the inside, but looked like it had been twisted into a knot. 'Had Flandre gotten out?' Marisa thought as a bolt of dread went down her spine. She certainly hoped not! While the little sister had gotten better since they had first met several years ago, she still scared the living daylights out of her! Fortunately, it was day and the sun was up. If Flan had escaped, then she had to be holed up in dark place somewhere- maybe a cave or a hollow tree or something.

Having been saved by logic, she cautiously made her way into the building. No one was in sight, good. If she was detected then Sakuya would be on her in seconds and she'd have to fight for her breakfast, she didn't want that, so she snuck in with all the stealth she had available to her, like a ninja! Quietly, quietly, quietl… she froze. While focusing on stealth Marisa hadn't been paying attention to her feet and had kicked something. Still no Sakuya. She was safe. But what was that thing? A stone? She picked it up and examined it. No, not a stone. A stone cherry. A crystalized soul. What was that miniature vampire up to now?

Pocketing the stone she continued to the kitchen. It was empty. Some light was coming in through the windows, but there were no lights on. No fairy workers. No Sakuya. No stoves were lit. No food was prepared. How was she supposed to steal her breakfast if there was no breakfast to steal? Maybe they had all spontaneously decided to go out for breakfast? Yeah, she hoped that's what the case was. Well even if they went out, Patchouli should still be around. She could probably barter one of the tomes she had taken previously in exchange for breakfast. The bookworm would be happy to have it back.

Marisa continued on her way to the library, the corridors and passages stubbornly remaining empty. This… this was really starting to unnerve her. The fact that there were a large number of stone cherries around did nothing to soothe her worries. Soon she had navigated to the library, she had only gotten lost once… er twice on her way, a new record! The library was empty. Lamps upon the walls were filled with flickering flames that only just gave off enough light to read and large shadows cast by massive bookshelves covered the floor.

"Eep!" A lamp sputtered and died as she passed it plunging her aisle into darkness. "Ok Patchouli, this isn't funny!" Marisa called, there was no response. She quickly made her way back to Patchouli's corner, shivering at the imagined (she so dearly hoped they were imagined!) eyes in the shadows. The desk was empty, books and notes strewn about upon it. A sheet of paper sat in the middle, pen fallen on it and ink spattered all about. It was written in Latin, a language commonly used in magical studies. It seemed that Patchouli was researching the creation of new metals using magic, but the last line froze the blood in her veins once she managed to make it out past the ink stains:

"Something's happened, magic has gone crazy. I don't feel so good, I can feel myself fading. Help me Re…"

The sense of unease that had been percolating at the back of her mind all morning suddenly jumped to the forefront and she was no longer able to ignore it. The bookshelves closed in around her and her breath grew short. Something was utterly wrong, she had to get out, she had to leave, she had to go now! A window smashed as Marisa fled the library, tears in her eyes. Something terrible must have happened to Patchouli. It was clear that this was an incident of some sort, Reimu would know what to do, she always did. 'And maybe,' Marisa thought as her stomach growled, 'maybe Reimu will have breakfast ready and I can eat with her, surely she would be awake by now!' Reassuring herself, she forced a grin on her face, it did not reach her eyes.

As she approached the shrine Marisa started to notice little details, small things that were wrong. Things like the fact that the cherry tree at the base of the steps leading to the shrine was missing, or that there were just less trees than normal around the shrine- it was set back in a wooded area and the forest barely looked like one anymore. Or most worrying of all: that she didn't hear any birds. Sure there tended to be less around here for some reason, maybe it was due to the energies that surrounded the shrine or its proximity to the barrier, but right now all she heard was the wind in the trees. It was far too quiet.

Clearly Reimu wasn't up yet as the path leading to the shrine was strewn with leaves due to the wind. Oh well, she'd just have to go wake her up, grumpiness be damned, and have her make breakfast for the two of them… her shoji doors were open. Marisa rushed inside and looked around frantically, where was Reimu?

There was a faint sound coming from farther in the shrine. Carefully, Marisa headed back into it. On the floor next to the door that led into Reimu's bedroom she found the last person she had expected: Remilia Scarlet. The small vampire was curled up in a ball rocking gently back and forth.

"Hey, Remilia, hey!" Marisa shouted after getting over her shock. She ran over and started shaking her shoulder. "Get ahold of yourself!"

"Gone, gone, all gone, all alone, all gone…" Was the muffled response.

"HEY! REMELIA!" She yelled, shaking her harder. The ball of vampire tensed up for a moment, before her head came out. Watery red eyes met brown, and then their owner launched herself at Marisa knocking her to the ground. Surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her waist and she suddenly found herself pinned to the floor by a crying vampire. While she may not have known exactly what brought this on, after seeing the mansion and reading the message she had an idea. It wasn't pretty. She brought her arms up and put them around the trembling girl, rubbing her back lightly.

"Don't worry," she said, "when Reimu gets back she'll take care of the problem."

The watery red eyes reappeared. "Reimu's gone too," she said between the sobs.

"What?" Marisa felt like she had been punched in the gut. "What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I got here at the break of dawn, the mansion was completely empty so I thought 'Reimu will know how to fix this', but she wasn't here. She was never here, her bed's still made. Reimu's gone too." Remilia had calmed slightly and was easier to understand, but her grip hadn't slackened.

"What?" Marisa repeated. The ceiling was spinning and the floor was wet. It felt like the ground had dropped out from under her and she was in freefall with no bottom in sight. She brought a trembling hand to her cheek, and it was wet too. "Gone?"

"Gone."

The girls clung to each other there on the floor and their sorrows poured forth. The sun was high in the sky by the time they were able to stand once more.

"We need to learn what happened," she said to the Ordinary Magician, her eyes a burning crimson. "We need to find out who, or what, caused this and if it can be undone. If it can't, then someone needs to _suffer_."

Eyes hard and fierce, Marisa looked back at the shorter girl and nodded resolutely. Some semblance of order had returned to her mind. "I'll start at the Human village. We need to know if this affected everyone or if specific people were targeted and we need to know what form our friends being gone has taken. Were they kidnapped? Were they killed? Were they taken across the Sanzu River? Can we get them back? I'll return by nightfall at the latest." She sounded more hopeful than she actually was, Patchouli's note sat heavy in the back of her mind.

She strode out of the shrine, closed the shoji doors behind her, and took off following the path towards the human village. Marisa was about halfway there when she noticed something strange. A girl with a green and yellow dress was practically collapsed in the middle of the road. There was something strangely familiar about her. Red-rimmed green eyes looked up to meet hers, cheeks stained by dust and tears.

"You're… Satori's sister aren't you?" Marisa asked, her memory slow. She knew this girl, had met her several times and even considered her something of a friend during a recent incident. Why had she forgotten?

"You forgot because you could not remember. No one could remember except my sister, not with my Eye closed," the girl responded softly.

Marisa looked at her, startled. This girl, Koishi, was different. A pair of bright green eyes and a violet eye looked back. Koishi's Third Eye was open.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

If you are wondering what happened to the fairies, go read Touhou Sangetsusei ~ Visionary Fairies in Shrine chapter 13.

If you want to know why Koishi is the next character to appear, go watch Brambly Boundaries by MinusT on YouTube- it's pretty awesome (3D animation of Touhou 11 extra stage).


	3. Koishi

Chapter 3

Koishi

* * *

The marketplace in the Former Capital of Hell was always a noisy place. Yokai of all sorts, but mostly the sorts not wanted at the surface, wandered about fighting, drinking, and haggling over goods. Through this melee a girl drifted along. One would think that she would be caught within the crush and lost, carried off to places unknown, places unfit for a young girl. One would be wrong. She drifted along floating just off the surface of the ground taking in everything with wide green eyes and a bright smile. One would think that she had never seen the marketplace before. One would be right, in a sense.

The mass of unwashed bodies slid around her. Wherever the girl was located, there was a space large enough for her. Wherever she drifted to, a path miraculously opened up right before her allowing her passage. Not a single yokai noticed. None of the oni or goblins, imps or devils, jorogumo or tsuchigumo, tsuchinoko or kanazuchibo, kijo or kasha, vengeful spirits or man eaters, not a single one of the many horrifying yokai that lived within the city noticed the girl. Not a single one touched the girl or stained her beautiful green and yellow dress. Where she was, they weren't. She wandered along, eyes wide and innocent inspecting stalls for their wares, exploring the market. Eventually she grabbed a necklace as she passed one of the stalls, a beautifully crafted pendant of gold embedded with a ruby carved in the shape of a rose. The merchant never noticed.

Drifting away from the market and above the crowd she moved seemingly aimlessly flitting here and there as things caught her interest. 'What was this girl thinking?' One might ask, 'What was the girl thinking to fearlessly pass through a land that would surely kill any human, to steal a priceless piece of craftsmanship from one of these monsters?' One would find that she wasn't thinking. She wasn't capable of such a thing. Once, long before, she had been a satori, a fearsome yokai capable of reading minds, one feared even by the monsters that inhabited the Former Capital of Hell. But that hate, that fear, had been too much for the young satori and so she closed her third eye in the hope that it would let her lose her mind-reading ability. It did, but also made her unable to read her own mind. And so she was left as little more than a phantom of the subconscious, directed by and manipulating the unconscious mind- a horrifyingly strong ability, even more so than her former ability to read minds, but with no mind to direct it, it was aimless.

And so, Koishi Komeiji, younger sister of Satori Komeiji the ruler of the Palace of the Earth Spirits and Former Hell as a whole, was mindless. She drifted through life not thinking and rarely feeling while causing those around her to subconsciously ignore and forget her, just as she was drifting through the air above the crowded streets of the Former Capital of Hell, unnoticed by all. It was a sad fate, a cruel fate, and yet one that Koishi was unable to even understand.

Her drifting eventually reached an end when she stood before the entrance to her sister's abode. Mindless though she may have been, her familial ties ran deep, deeper than her conscious mind. The gates opened and she entered, skipping towards her sister's study with a smile on her face as she hummed some meaningless tune and took in the opulent surroundings with awe as if it was her first time in the building.

Barging into the room, Koishi found her sister surrounded by animals of all sorts, for while humans and yokai may fear the abilities of a satori, animals loved them as they had no voice and yet were able to be heard.

Satori looked up and saw her sister looking around with interest. She was one of the few able to remember the girl when she was out of sight, but whether that was due to her mind reading abilities countering Koishi's power to some degree or because Koishi subconsciously excluded her from its influence was anyone's guess. Lifting the large orange cat that had been in her lap and placing him on the floor, she stood with a smile just in time to receive a ballistic Koishi to the chest knocking her right back down again.

"Oof! Alright Koishi, what have I said about doing that?"

The giggling girl on her lap just looked at her blankly. Satori sighed and gave her sister a hug.

"It's good to see you too, what brings you into the Underground today?"

Koishi looked around, first at the animals, and then back at her sister. She absently started petting the large orange cat that had jumped onto the desk beside her. Floating upward slightly she reached into one of her voluminous sleeves and pulled out the pendant.

"Hello~ I brought you a present!"

"Wow, that's beautiful! Where did you find it?"

Koishi waved vaguely back in the direction she came from. "Around."

Satori chuckled and rolled her eyes, both the ones in her head and her third eye which was floating above her shoulder with red chords connecting to her body, and put the necklace on. "Thank you. Would you like to join us for dinner? Utsuho is cooking tonight."

"Really?" Satori nodded. "Hooray! Utsuho is the best!"

"Glad you think so too," Satori said with a chuckle. "Well then, let us be off."

Koishi leapt back over the desk and landed beside the door with a laugh when there was a sudden sound behind her. As her sister had been rounding the desk her knees buckled and she fell to the floor holding her head. There was suddenly a cacophony coming from the animals in the room with half of them likewise collapsing.

"Hello~ Sister, are you ok?" Koishi asked walking back to her.

"I, no. What the hell is happening?" Satori said in a pained voice. "It's like a full-body migraine but worse… Are you ok Koishi?"

"Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"Ah, good. I'm glad." She relaxed. Something like dust was starting to fill the air. "Promise me that you'll take care of yourself and my pets."

"Sister?"

"Promise me," there was a pained grimace on her face. Koishi didn't notice.

"Ok sister, I promise~," Koishi replied in a light voice, reaching out and taking Satori's hand. It turned to ash the instant she touched it.

"Good. I love you sis…"

Satori was gone. Half her pets were gone. The room was far emptier than it had been before. Koishi stared at the spot her sister had been an instant before in shock.

"Hello~ Sister?" There was no answer.

"Sister, where are you? Where have you gone?" Koishi surveyed the room with dull eyes. Satori was not there.

"Hey sister? This is a joke right?" There was still no answer. Those animals that remained were still and didn't make a sound.

"Hey, hey sister, come back," she said reaching for the spot where Satori had once been. Tears fell from her closed third eye and mixed with the ashes for a moment, before even they vanished.

"Sister please?" Satori was gone.

"Sister?"

"Sister!" Koishi screamed collapsing on the floor. The remaining animals yowled, howled, and screeched letting the world hear their pain.

"Sister please, come back to me," Koishi sobbed. "Please don't leave me alone, please come back and let's have dinner. Please."

"Why? Why are you gone? All I… All I want is to be w-with you."

"Please…!" Koishi trembled on the floor as sobs wracked her body. The orange cat pushed his way into her arms. She clung to it. Minutes passed as she lay there wrapped around the cat moistening his fur with her tears. Finally she released him and stood up on shaky legs. The door opened and Utsuho Reiuji walked in, eyes empty.

"Where is Satori?"

"Gone." Koishi collapsed back on the ground.

"Gone?"

"She was here," Koishi struggled to find the words, "and then she was gone."

Utsuho stared at her uncomprehending.

"She was right here!" She slammed the ground next to the desk cracking the stone floor, tears flowing down her cheeks again. "She was right here, and then she crumbled into dust, and I-I… I didn't even realize until it had happened. Just like with Rin."

"Rin?"

"You were preparing dinner with her, she was laughing at a joke, and then something happened that turned her into dust and now she's gone."

Utsuho's eyes widened and seemed to see her for the first time. "Koishi?"

"How did I…? What's happening?" Koishi looked down. Her third eye was open.

"Why? Why now? Why not before? Why, now that I am really here at last, is my sister gone? Why?" There was black at the edges of her vision. She didn't notice. She didn't care. It was too much. Only half of her sisters' pets remained and she felt the sorrow of each animal pierce her heart as if it was her own. It was too much. Black was all she could see now and Koishi collapsed, unconscious.

* * *

When Koishi woke she found Utsuho sitting beside her bed.

"Are you ok?" The nuclear hell raven asked, concern shining in her eyes.

"I," a thousand whispers from the residents of the Palace and even some from those farther away entered her mind. Utsuho's only thoughts were of her wellbeing, Satori may have been gone but she was not. She tried focusing on that and ignoring the rest, but soon lost it to the sea of minds that surrounded her. It was too much. "No, I am not."

"None of us are," Utsuho agreed, "but in time we will be. Come, there are too many people here, too many minds for you to read. Even Sa-Satori," her voice hitched at the name, "found it to be too much sometimes and for you who just regained your ability it would be overwhelming."

Koishi dressed and silently followed her to the Nuclear Furnace, the fusion reactor she managed. She sat and watched in silence as Utsuho worked, the hell raven's thoughts formed into complex equations that she could not understand. For a time the silence was enough.

"Utsuho," she eventually asked, "how are you going to manage the reactor without Rin?"

"Don't worry, Okuu will manage," she replied with a weak smile.

"Liar," Koishi said softly. Utsuho stilled and turned towards her, smile gone. "Simply being here is enough to make you think of your friend; just because you can manage the reactor on your own doesn't mean you can manage."

Utsuho remained silent and motionless for a minute. "Okuu," she said, "that was Orin's name for me. I want you to use it now."

"All right Okuu," Koishi said wearily getting to her feet. "Shut down the reactor and come with me. Remaining here much longer won't help either of us."

"Where are we going?"

"Outside."

* * *

The two of them flew over the Former Capital. There was blood on the streets and many buildings were burning. Yuugi could be seen running around with a group of oni trying to stop the violence with overwhelming force and restore order. It didn't seem to be working too well as for every group that was put down two more seemed to rise and start rioting. Koishi and Okuu flew on. Onward and upward through the maze of tunnels that lead from the Underground to the Outside. Over Parsee's bridge across a chasm (though Parsee was nowhere to be seen- was she gone too?) and eventually up out of the pit that served as the Underground's entrance.

The air seemed stale somehow and colors were less vibrant, it was as if the world had lost its luster. Okuu looked around in curiosity and awe, her thoughts running a mile a minute. Koishi ignored her. Picking a direction at random they flew onward until they reached a path cutting through a sad-looking forest and stopped, Koishi unable to continue due to hunger and exhaustion.

"I'll go find something to eat, ok?"

Koishi did not respond, so Okuu flew off following the path. Koishi was alone. Completely and utterly alone. She had been alone for most of her life, but only now with her eye open was she able to see and feel it. Collapsing in grief once more for what was and what could have been but now never would be, Koishi wept.

The sun was high in the sky when she felt someone enter her range. It wasn't Okuu. However this person seemed familiar. They had met before, back when she was empty. A friend of sorts, though not one she knew well, and not one who knew her at all.

Marisa landed in front of her and Koishi looked up.

"You're Satori's sister aren't you?" Marisa asked, but that wasn't what she wanted to know.

"You forgot because you could not remember. No one could remember except my sister, not with my Eye closed," Koishi responded. Marisa stared at her for a moment, thoughts racing through her head. "It's good to see you again Marisa."

"I- yeah you too Koishi. So why is it-"

"That I am here now?" Marisa took a step back, startled. It seemed she had forgotten about the mind reading. "Simple. My sister is gone," thoughts raced through Marisa's head. Reimu: gone. Alice: gone. Sakuya: gone. Patcholi: gone. "And my Eye is open. There are too many people underground for me to deal with, even after half of them turned into dust and vanished."

Marisa was shocked, her mouth opened and closed several times unable to start the sentence.

"Yes, those who are gone crumbled into dust. My sister was within arms' reach, I was holding her hand when it crumbled into nothing. I doubt there is a way to undo it, especially if it struck the Outside too. Those who are gone, are gone for good." Her heart clenched to say those words, but she managed to keep a mostly steady voice as she did. A few tears ignored her orders and decided to fall anyway.

Marisa plodded over to a nearby tree, her broom trailing on the ground behind her, leaned against it and slid to the ground. "So, what do we do now?" She asked, her voice empty.

There was a thump. "First, we eat," Okuu said shoving a large bowl of rice into her hands and then another into Marisa's. Marisa was surprised at her sudden appearance, but her hunger outweighed her curiosity and she dug into her rice like a ravenous wolf.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, Okuu already ate!" She responded with forced cheerfulness.

'Idiot, anyone can see that's a lie, especially the ones who can read minds, but thanks anyway,' Koishi thought. Koishi ate, it had no flavor but gave her strength once more.

"So," Koishi asked, "where to now?"

"I was on my way to the Human Village when I ran into the two of you," Marisa answered.

"Okuu flew over the village looking for food before a nice old couple gave me some. It looked the same as in the underground but with less fire," the raven responded.

"Ah, geez. Looks like whatever it was that happened hit all of Gensokyo then. We should still head towards the village; hopefully Keine is still here and can help us figure something out."

"I don't want to go to the village," Koishi said in a small voice, "too many people, too many minds."

"All right, that's fine," Marisa responded. "Why don't you and Utsuho go back to the Hakurei shrine for now, the only person there is Remilia. I'll be back by this evening."

Koishi watched as Marisa took off and sped down the path towards the village and quickly passed out of sight. She slowly lifted off the ground and began to drift down the path heading the opposite direction, Okuu following her lead. Staring upwards at the sky as she moved, she decided to ignore her own thoughts and senses and focus on Okuu's instead as the raven's curiosity had overwhelmed her grief. It was her first time Outside and the sights, the sounds, the smells, all of it was unfamiliar and new: she saw everything with a childlike wonder. Simple though her thoughts and feelings may have been, they were a refreshing change of pace. There was no dwelling on grief, on tragedy, just boundless curiosity and awe. Just a day ago her own mind had been the same, before it had all been violently ripped away and that wonder turned to ashes. The trauma of that event had been so great it had forced her subconscious mind to confront reality by burying the half-remembered fear and hatred that had caused Koishi to hide from it in the first place under an ocean of grief. But now, for a time, she could let it all go and rest in the familiarity of Okuu's thoughts. Perhaps in time she would regain the ability to be carefree and happy, but that was no more than a glimmer upon a distant horizon, a heartfelt wish that may never come to pass.

They reached the shrine after a short flight and Koishi inspected it having never visited before. It was sat atop a hill at the end of a long staircase with a torii gate at the top. Past that was an empty courtyard of paved stone, the shrine building at the back. Compared to the Moriya shrine it was rather small, empty, and a bit dirty. A single mind was within the shrine, likely this Remilia, her thoughts slow and circular.

They entered the building and found the girl, the vampire, sitting at the table in the middle of the main room eyes unfocused and thoughts clouded. She didn't notice them. She didn't notice when Koishi sat across from her. She didn't notice when Okuu began raiding the kitchen to make a meal. She didn't notice until rice, tempura, and tea were set before her, the scent of a freshly cooked meal finally working its way into her conscious mind. They ate in silence.

Red eyes peered into green as the vampire examined her. The silence was deafening.

"Who did you lose?" Remilia eventually asked. It hadn't been the question she had intended to ask, Koishi easily saw that, but it was the one that slipped past the dozens of other thoughts the vampire had. That knowledge didn't make it hurt any less.

"Same as you," Koishi responded tiredly, "my sister."

Remilia tried to respond, she had a thousand thoughts, a hundred possible responses on the tip of her tongue, she was unable to speak as her emotions waged war within her. Okuu on the other hand had simply stopped thinking. She was frozen in place unblinking as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"You are Remilia Scarlet correct?" The vampire nodded, Koishi's words had temporarily silenced the tempest within her mind. "I'm Koishi Komeiji and this is Utsuho Reiuji who is also known as Okuu," she held out her hand with a smile, "It's nice to meet you."

"Komeiji…" Koishi winced as she saw the conclusion Remilia reached. "You're Satori's sist…. Oh."

Koishi's smile became brittle, her hand still outstretched. Remilia was on the edge of tears as her mind teetering at the edge of an endless spiral of self-hate.

Okuu grabbed her hand and shook it breaking her out of the loop. "It's nice to meet you Remilia!" she said before passing the vampire's hand to Koishi. Koishi was surprised to find that Okuu meant what she said, her earlier bout of sorrow forgotten. "Now," Okuu continued, "how about you tell us about your sister. What was her name?"

"Flandre Scarlet," Remilia said, a distant look on her face. "Her name was Flandre and she was… really difficult to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I love… loved her dearly but she had the terrifying ability to destroy anything. Too much power, not enough sense, and the mentality of a six-year-old, though she had finally been growing a bit these past few years," Remilia sighed and continued. "She was only five years younger than me you know? I had to grow up and be an adult, I had to take care of her and everyone else, she didn't. We couldn't let her out of the house because of it all, and now that I think about it, perhaps part of me had always resented her. What about you, what about your sister?"

Koishi sat back a moment and thought, dredging up old memories. Memories that had formed when she had been unable to access them. She took them and examined them, handling them carefully as each memory of her sister was a priceless treasure. It felt like an age had passed, and yet when she returned to the present it had been but a moment.

"Satori Komeiji," Koishi began slowly, "my older sister was very much in your situation. We satori are mind readers, and are hated because of it. It was too much for me to bear when I was young and so I locked my ability, locked my mind, away. While I drifted through life untouched by its woes, all the responsibility and worry fell on her shoulders. She was strict and kind with a mind as fast as lightning and was able to plan, to manage, to organize, and to direct better than anyone I know. She always wanted the best for me, for me to open my heart- my third eye- once more so I could connect with others again and was worried about me as I'd go wandering off for weeks at a time. She got her wish, my heart is now open, I…" she trailed off, throat constricting as she tried to get the words out. "I… I just wish it hadn't taken her death to do so." There were tears running down Koishi's face again. It almost felt like all the sorrows she had dodged over the years- decades- had struck her at once. Remilia pulled her into a hug and let Koishi cry herself to sleep.

Koishi had just been tucked into bed, Reimu's bed, when the shoji doors slammed open. A short girl in a pink dress with floppy white ears stood in the doorway.

"Where's Reimu at?" She asked with a growl.

"Gone," Remilia answered.

The rabbit yokai stalked up to her, grabbed the front of her blouse, and pulled her to her feet despite their similar heights. "What do you mean 'gone'?" She asked, her voice dangerously low.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Remilia answered, unconcerned. "She's gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Dusted. Reimu Hakurei is no more."

"Well that's just great," she muttered releasing the vampire and sitting down with a huff. "What am I supposed to do now if Reimu's not around to solve this incident?"

"You can start," Utsuho said placing a cup of tea before her, "by telling us your name and what happened."

"I'm Tewi, Tewi Inaba," the rabbit replied. "Yes, that Inaba," she continued cutting off Remilia's question. "Well," Tewi began taking a sip of her tea as she considered how to tell her tale. She paused and took a second sip, this tea was quite good. "Well, it all started yesterday evening shortly before sunset…"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter was a tough one to write emotionally. I didn't expect anything of the sort, but my grandmother died suddenly at the end of March and it all just came back when I was writing. She was fine that morning, and gone that afternoon. It was really disconcerting, she was gone in an instant almost as if someone had said it was her time and snapped their fingers. Death leaves a void in you that cannot be easily filled, a yawning chasm in your heart where that person once lived, but now they are gone. At first it's quite surreal. You wonder if perhaps it is a prank, or if you wish for it hard enough then they won't be gone, that they are sitting at home with a fresh baked meal waiting for you to arrive like they always did. But they aren't there, you arrive and the house is empty, they aren't coming back, death has stolen them from you. The tears don't stop. Eventually you accept your loss, insofar as that's possible, and the void seems to shrink. You go about your life and everything seems ok. Then something happens and it all comes rushing back. I hadn't cried since the funeral and thought I had made peace with my grandmother's passing. I was wrong. Writing about Koishi losing her sister forced me to confront my own loss once more. Death really really sucks. Fortunately, it is not the end. Someday God will make all things right once more and even death will be destroyed. I will see my grandmother again. That is my Hope, and it has taken some of the sting out of her passing, though I really would have preferred her to live another 10 years and even that reduced sting can be quite painful.


	4. Tewi

Chapter 4

Tewi

* * *

"_Well," Tewi began taking a sip of her tea. She paused and took a second sip, this tea was quite good. "Well, it all started yesterday evening near sunset."_

It had been a good day. Nothing abnormal had occurred in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, but her pranks had been more successful than usual. Not only had Tewi caught Reisen twice as she was returning from her visit to the Human Village (exiting the first trap had caused her to fall into the second), but Fujiwara no Mokou had been inattentive just long enough to trap her in a maze. It had been instantly burnt down of course, but still clearly a win for the white rabbit.

* * *

"_Are you sure that's what happened?"_

"_Yes, absolutely. Now don't interrupt me."_

"_Are you absolutely certain?"_

"_Yes! Now…"_

"_Because you're lying."_

_Tewi glared at Koishi._

"_I can read minds you know; I can tell when someone isn't being truthful."_

"_Fine… I may have exaggerated things a bit to spice up the story, besides who doesn't embellish events a little when telling a tale?"_

"_You didn't exaggerate anything, you straight up lied. Now, tell it properly this time."_

"_Sigh…"_

"_Did she seriously just say the word 'sigh'?" Remilia asked no one in particular._

* * *

It had been a good day. Nothing abnormal had occurred in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, but her pranks had been more successful than usual. Not only had Tewi caught Reisen twice as she was returning from her visit to the Human Village (exiting the first trap had caused her to fall into the second), but she _almost _managed to catch Fujiwara no Mokou as well. Unfortunately for Tewi, the fiery immortal had excellent instincts and had ended things before they had even begun. Mokou had been most… displeased with the rabbit and so ended another successful day of pranking.

* * *

"_Better?"_

"…_Acceptable. You may continue."_

* * *

That evening Tewi was sitting on the porch of Eientei watching the eternal nemeses Mokou and Kaguya have their daily duel. A crowd of fairies had also gathered around the edges of the clearing that was the battlefield and appeared to be taking bets on the outcome- it seemed that one of them was a bit more devious than the rest. Tewi ducked, a stray bolt of flame passing through the space her head had occupied moments earlier. It appeared Mokou was still a bit upset about her triumph Tewi mused, giggling to herself and causing the immortal to glare at her in annoyance.

* * *

"_You're doing it again."_

"_Geeze, what are you, the thought police? Can't I have any fun here?"_

"_In order, sure and no."_

"_Spoilsport."_

* * *

It appeared Mokou was still annoyed at her attempted prank and was not above being petty and "accidentally" roasting a rabbit with a "missed" attack. Mokou's inattention cost her as Kaguya took the opportunity to land an attack of her own that sent the burning human (she was quite literally on fire at this point) flying into the bamboo forest. Tewi sipped her tea and absentmindedly ate one of the dango sitting next to her. Mokou rocketed back into the clearing on a pillar of fire and set it ablaze. Desert and a show! What a perfect way to end a good day.

Eirin sighed next to her. "Things never change do they; no matter how long it has been those two still fight."

"I wouldn't say that. They may fight but at this point it seems to be more out of habit than anything else," Tewi replied reaching for another dango. Her plate was empty, she glanced to the right and found Eirin eating the last one, a smirk on her face. Tewi's eyes narrowed, Eirin had just declared war, it was open season now and she was going to have bad luck tomorrow.

* * *

"_Bad luck?" Remilia asked, cutting into Tewi's story._

"_I have power over luck. While I'm known for giving people good luck, I can also do the opposite and hand out misfortune as well. This usually takes the form of causing improbable events that result in the humiliation of the recipient of my curse, usually in the most comic method possible."_

"_You tried to give Mokou bad luck when she escaped your trap didn't she?"_

"_I plead the fifth!"_

"_No wonder she was miffed. Also, we're in Japan. How do you even know what America's fifth amendment is?"_

"_Yes," Koishi cut in, "Tewi tried to give Mokou bad luck but she quite literally burned it off. As for your question Remilia, I have no idea what this America is, but it seems saying those words have bailed this rabbit out of a lot of trouble over the years."_

"_Oi, stop poking around in my head!"_

"_Sorry, there's no way to turn my power off. Or, well I did once and it ended badly."_

"_So Tewi, what was the funniest thing your curse of bad luck caused?" Remilia asked the mischievous yokai. _

"_Oh, that's a hard one. Let me think about it a bit, I'll get back to you later. Right, now where was I..."_

"_You were mad at Eirin for stealing your desert."_

* * *

"Oh?" Eirin asked ignoring her glare of promised vengeance. "What makes you so sure things are different?"

"Look at their faces, they are both smiling. They may be fighting out of habit, but also because it's fun and they can cut loose and fight against each other at full strength without worry. Besides, and I'm sure you've noticed, these battles used to always end with one of them dead. Now that happens every three or four days. They battle for an hour and if there is no victor then they come back here and have tea. Mokou and Kaguya are more friends than enemies at this point, even if they will never admit it."

"Hmmm… so there is a brain under all that fluff little rabbit."

"Oi, you do know that I'm as old as Kaguya right?"

"What of it, little rabbit?"

It seemed Eirin wished for some excitement to occur. Tewi eyes glinted maliciously as she forcibly changed the pharmacists' luck from 'normal' to 'abysmal' for the next 24 hours. That would teach her to call her a 'little rabbit'.

She turned her attention back to the duel ignoring the foolish lunarian that sat next to her. It appeared the fight was approaching its conclusion. Both Mokou and Kaguya were covered in (relatively) minor injuries and were gathering energy for one final attack. A house-sized ball of fire formed over Mokou's head which then compressed into a lance that almost appeared solid. As she took it into her hands, great wings of fire burst out of her back. Tewi felt like she sat before the sun as the intense heat practically vaporized the ground underneath Mokou. On the opposite side of the clearing Kaguya raised her hand and a katana that seemed to be made out of moonlight materialized.

The bookie fairy whistled from behind Tewi where she had sneakily taken cover. She had long black hair, a blue dress, and pale transparent wings that were shaped like a butterfly's.

* * *

"_Hey, isn't that one of the fairies that lives around here? I remember Reimu liked complaining about their pranks," Remilia interjected._

"_Maybe," Tewi shrugged, "It was certainly the first time I had seen her around Eintei. Now stop interrupting me!"_

"_Tewi... stop lying to us again."_

"_What? I'm not lying. It was the first time I saw that fairy around Eintei."_

"_But it wasn't the first time you saw that fairy. In fact, she was there being a bookie because you told her to do so."_

"_And?"_

"_Good job! You found an actual use for a fairy. I employ fairy maids but they can be rather dim and as often as not make messes worse when they are meant to be cleaning. Maybe I should try your approach instead..."_

* * *

"They really are going all-out tonight," Eirin commented. "Perhaps they heard your comments earlier and wish to disprove you?"

"Tsunderes will tsundere," Tewi replied flippantly. They duelists glared at her briefly before turning back to their fight. Techniques complete, they leapt forward abandoning defense and struck. Both attacks landed, but neither was quite a fatal blow (not that such a thing mattered to those two) as both had attempted to dodge at the last second while ensuring their own attack landed. A chunk of Kaguya's abdomen vaporized while Mokou had avoided losing her head only to lose an arm. Both grimaced in pain as they inspected their injuries. Then, they looked at each other, locked eyes, and in an oddly-synchronized motion turned towards Tewi with visages promising pain. But, before they could take a single step towards her to exact their revenge, they clutched their wounds and, without warning, crumbled into ash. Eirin's cup shattered on the ground as she stood up in shock. Tewi was unconcerned- so there was a delay between taking the attack and it dealing full damage. They had come back from worse.

* * *

_Tewi stopped, throat tight, and tried to take a sip of tea to calm herself. Her cup was empty._

"_Do you need a moment to collect yourself?" Utsuho asked, speaking up for the first time._

"_I... yeah."_

"_Don't worry, it wasn't the curse of bad luck that caused it."_

_Tewi turned towards Koishi, shocked. Utsuho refilled her mug while she was distracted._

"_I can see what you're thinking, remember? If it was somehow caused by your actions, then either you are more powerful than anyone realized by several orders of magnitude or it was going to happen anyway and the only thing you may have influenced was the timing of the event."_

_Tewi took a sip of tea, scalding her tongue. "Thanks... I can continue now."_

* * *

While Eirin was panicking in the over their sudden decomposition, Tewi was laughing at her (silently of course). Things like this had happened before. Eirin always panicked when it happened, but she had seen Kaguya come back from being completely vaporized. Not only had Kaguya drunk the Hourai elixir, but thanks to her ability to "manipulate eternity and the instantaneous" and its properties of rejecting all change, an ability that had allowed the elixir's creation in the first place, she was a true immortal. Not matter what, she would always return to her original state as her body would reject all changes, including any and all injuries. Not even death was exempt from this. But this time, she wasn't. Neither was Mokou who had drunk the same elixir. They were both dead, for real despite their immutability, and Eirin was having a breakdown.

* * *

"_Wait, that was the moon princess' power? How powerful must this event have been to End the Endless?" Remilia asked._

"_Off-the-scale powerful," Tewi responded completely serious. "Unimaginably powerful. Not just Gensokyo-wide or Japan-wide or even global. At absolute minimum it must have affected the entire solar system."_

"_More...than...Gensokyo? There's more out there?!" Utsuho commented, split between fear and wonder._

"_Oh boy..." Tewi muttered, then turning to Utsuho spoke with gravitas. "You have much to learn young padawan."_

"_Again!" Remilia exclaimed. "How do you know all these references to the outside world? That movie came out long after Gensokyo was sealed and I'm pretty sure you rabbits have been here since its start. Actually, movies didn't even exist when Gensokyo was sealed."_

"_I have my ways."_

* * *

It took a few minutes for the reality of the situation to dawn upon Tewi. Eirin had known immediately. By the time Tewi understood what had happened, Eirin had attempted to take samples of the ash (it vanished shortly after being collected) and then rushed inside heading to her lab. She tripped on the step up onto the porch in her haste and face planted. It would have been funny if the situation was not so dire. The clearing was silent, empty. Tewi was the only person there, alone with the scars of battle.

* * *

"_Alone? What happened to the fairies?"_

"_I think they ran off."_

"_Even the one sitting behind you, your bookie, did she run off without you noticing?"_

"_Probably. I don't usually pay much attention to the little pests and she managed to get behind me without me noticing. She did drop something though," Tewi dug around in a pocket and pulled out a red crystal. _

"_May I see that for a moment?" Remilia asked, eyes focused on the stone. Tewi nodded and handed it over._

"_This stone, it looks almost exactly the same as several I found in my mansion after the incident, if a bit bigger," her eyes narrowed. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all..."_

* * *

After some contemplation and (_a glare from Koishi, 'fine then!'_) and far too long spent thinking about how it must have been her fault somehow because of the curse, never mind the absurd level of power necessary to erase one like Kaguya from existence, a level of power Tewi most certainly did not possess (_'happy?'_), she moved on into the building. It was far too empty. Rabbit yokai wandered the halls in shock, huddled in corners crying, and just looked miserable in general. Many were missing. As she passed Tewi surreptitiously improved their luck, they needed it.

The sounds of frustration and the shattering of glass were audible far from Eirin's lab. Entering the room, Tewi found it half destroyed. Bits of glassware looked like they had been thrown against the walls, notes were torn to pieces and scattered everywhere, and Eirin was standing in the middle of it all cursing up a storm. Before she could react to Tewi's presence, Reisen strode into the room with a syringe and stabbed Eirin, the concoction within quickly putting her to sleep.

* * *

"_Why are you smiling?" Utsuho asked._

"_Oh, because Koishi didn't catch my lie this time."_

"_What was it?" Remilia asked, intrigued._

"_Just that she was swearing up a storm because my curse kicked in causing her to stub her toe on a table, so she tripped and fell into it breaking some glass containers that were filled with volatile chemicals causing an explosion which then broke the storage cabinets above her which rained glassware down upon her which she caught, mostly, and then slipped on a pipette that she had missed throwing out her hands to steady herself, forgetting that she had an armful of glassware therefore launching it at the wall where it shattered then falling backwards and landing on her neck breaking it (don't worry, it was temporary) and concluding with the cabinets and much of the ceiling falling on her and burying her in rubble," she took a deep breath as she had said it all in one go. "She was cursing my name when I entered the room, that's what happened. Wait, why are you smiling like that Koishi? It's creepy."_

"_I didn't have to say anything~"_

"_...Dammit"_

* * *

After setting the genius doctor in a cot, Reisen rounded on Tewi and pulled out her gun, eyes glowing an eerie red. "Remove the curse in the next 3 seconds or I shoot."

Tewi stiffened at the threat, she may have made a nuisance of herself in the past (and she especially loved to target the moon rabbit), but Reisen had never reacted like this before. A snap of her fingers and her ill-timed curse of misfortune was gone. Reisen did not relax.

"Now, do the same for the rest."

"Pardon?"

"NOW!" Reisen yelled, firing a bullet next to Tewi's head. It left a scorch mark on the wall behind the smaller rabbit.

"Reisen, all I did was put a curse of misfortune on Eirin because she stole my desert. I had nothing to do with everything else," Tewi responded, dead serious.

Insanity and grief burned within Reisen's eyes. She wasn't listening and attacked in a rage. It was a hard battle, but Tewi eventually triumphed and put the poor girl to bed.

* * *

"_Wait, that's it? You can't leave us hanging like that!" Remilia exclaimed looking pointedly at Koishi._

"_Remilia," Utsuho said gently, "would you want to talk about a pointless and completely unnecessary battle against a good friend over a misunderstanding?"_

"_That's not..."_

"_Remilia, if someone from your mansion survived, say your sister Flandre, and then blamed you for the deaths of the rest and forced you to fight about it seriously trying to kill you in the process, would you want to talk about it?" Koishi said cutting her off. Remilia was silent._

"_Thanks," Tewi muttered wiping tears out of her eyes. The others pretended not to see that. Just then, a massive gust of wind rattled the building cutting Tewi off before she could start again. The shoji doors slammed open and Aya Shameimaru, fantasy reporter extraordinaire, stepped in._

"_Oh ho? What's this, a clandestine meeting in the shrine without Reimu? I smell a scoop!"_

"_Reimu's gone," Remilia responded harshly, unwilling to put up with Aya's antics._

_Aya flinched and deflated before sitting heavily at the table. "Well that's just peachy. Gensokyo's in chaos with what seems to be half its population dead and our resident incident resolver happens to be one of them." _

"_We were just listening to Tewi tell us about what happened in Eintei, want to join us?" Utsuho asked as she set some tea in front of the tengu who took it gratefully._

"_Sure, I'm out here to find out what happened anyway," Aya said pulling out a notepad and pen, "talk away."_

"_Please, no more interruptions. I'm almost done."_

* * *

Tewi did what she could for the denizens of Eintei that night. With Eirin out of commission and Kaguya dead, leadership fell to her. She worked tirelessly, doing her best to keep up her cheer and reassuring the disheartened yokai. By the time morning came she was exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically. She remembered the sun rising, and then she was waking up in bed that afternoon with Eirin beside her. The immortal lunarian was silent, intense, and radiating barely restrained fury. She did not speak louder than a whisper, but Tewi could hear every word as clearly as if it had been shouted.

"When I find out who caused this travesty of an incident, I am going to roast them slowly over an open flame while flaying the skin from their body and dousing them in lemon juice. Then, I am going to force a potion of rejuvenation, a pale copy of the Hourai Elixir down their throat, and then I'm going to do it all over again, and again, and again, until they beg for death." The sheer venom in Eirin's voice terrified Tewi.

"Tewi," she said turning to the rabbit, eyes burning. "I want you to go to the Hakurei shrine and find the miko. Use her to find the cause of this incident and be certain to tell me _everything_. It doesn't matter whether this can be undone or not, I will have my revenge. Now go!"

"Uh, Eirin, may I ask a question first?"

"Hmm... sure, why not."

"How's Reisen? I, uh, couldn't exactly go easy on her last night."

"Reisen is fine. She woke hours ago, I cleared up the misunderstanding and sent her off to the Human Village to see what they need. I'm certain the same happened to them so they'll be in need of assistance. This is a good opportunity to increase our standing."

Tewi rose and was about to leave the room when Eirin's voice froze her in place. "Don't think for a moment that I've forgiven you for last night, I will deal with you later." Tewi gulped, left the room, closed the door, and bolted.

"_And now, here I am, and Reimu is no more. Eirin's going to kill me when I get back..." Tewi moaned, head in her hands._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I decided to try something a bit different this chapter. It was originally going to be written the same way as the last several, but I thought it would be fun to have it be told to the other characters. Because I had already written a large chunk of it when I made that decision I didn't want to go and make it all first-person so I settled on this story-interjection format with Tewi explaining and her listeners interrupting her (mostly because she had altered the details).

This was also originally going to be told from Eirin's perspective, but I thought Tewi would be more fun to write.

Next time: Aya


	5. Aya

Chapter 5

Aya

* * *

This was one of Aya Shameimaru's least favorite times of year. She had nothing in particular against summer, but today was the solstice festival. It was ostensibly a festival for Amaterasu, but it always ended up being celebration of the wealth and power of the upper caste- a group she was not part of. It didn't matter that she was the fastest tengu that had ever lived, or that she was almost certainly the strongest tengu in the village, she had been born a crow tengu and a crow tengu she would remain until her dying day. She may have been older, smarter, and wiser than almost all of the great tengu and certainly Chief Tenma as he was barely two centuries old, but she would never be counted as part of their number. She may have been the best of the tengu, but she would never be more than average in the eyes of her people.

That was why she had begun her newspaper, Bunbunmaru, as an attempt to rise above the rest even if she could not change her caste. But even so they looked down on her, they saw her being uppity and despised her for it. Had she been born a man they would have praised her ambition, but instead they derided her for it. Even the white wolf tengu looked down on her despite the fact that crow tengu were meant to be a higher caste. So she hated this time of year, when she would attend the festival to Ameteratsu and have to endure all the snide comments, backhanded remarks, insults and slights from those jealous of her skill, her power, and yet were above her in rank. She hated the injustice of it all, and there was not a single thing she could do about it.

Unfortunately attending the festival was mandatory and she would be shunned if she missed it. So no matter how much she wanted to be elsewhere, to be chasing down a lead for a new story, here she was at the banquet wearing her best kimono, traditional mask at the side of her head, and sitting at a table far from the chief and his advisors. What a pain. It didn't help that her self-proclaimed rival Hatate had sat next to her and refused to shut up. If Aya didn't know better she would suspect that the girl was attempting to annoy her enough that the rivalry would become mutual. What an absolute pain.

Aya returned her thoughts to the present. It seemed that Hatate was asking her something. She gave some meaningless response that seemed to please the girl. What a pain.

"Oh ho? Why the long face Aya?" A newcomer said from beside her. He had a long nose, a magnificent white beard, and a simple red cloak.

"Elder Sojobo!" She said, standing in surprise. "What brings you down from the high table?"

"What? Can't I spend time with my favorite reporter and her adorable student?" He asked, quirking a bushy eyebrow and pulling out a pipe.

"But it's not proper!"

"Aya," he said shaking his head and putting his hand on her shoulder. "Since when have you ever cared about propriety or rank? Don't start now, you'll only make yourself miserable."

Aya sighed, he was right as always. She had worked herself up into such a snit earlier that she had been unfair to the village in her earlier judgements.

"See, you're looking more like yourself already!" He said with a deep laugh. "Go, eat, be merry, make a friend, make an enemy, live your life to the fullest tonight! You are young yet and this festival only comes once a year so don't waste it."

Another tengu, a white wolf tengu, came up behind him, whispered something, glared at Aya for corrupting the elder, and left. Aya glared back, Momiji was an insufferable jerk and was the main reason she had a low opinion of the white wolf tengu (and they of her).

"Alas, it appears I must leave. Tenma wishes for my wisdom," he shook his head sadly as he rose. "He will make a great ruler in time just as his father was, if only that man had lived to see us today. Well then Aya, Hatate, until next time."

Aya was silent as he left. Hatate was vibrating in place, positively bursting with energy. "He knew my name!" She said with a giggle.

"Yes, Hatate, he knows everyone's name," Aya responded.

"But, but, like he's the greatest tengu to ever live! The strongest and the wisest and the coolest and, and, he spoke to me!"

Aya chuckled, reached over, and ruffled the girl's hair. She hated it when she did that as her fierce scowl could attest. Had she been like that once? Full of boundless energy and endless optimism before being crushed by reality? Probably. How droll. Still, Sojobo's visit had knocked some sense back into her. It was a festival so she might as well enjoy it, even if she did have Hatate for company (part of her was preening over the comment about having a student, her conscious mind violently suppressed that thought).

There was movement at the high table, a bell was rung and silence descended on the village. It was time for Tenma's yearly speech- he had probably wanted Sojobo back to work out the last of the details. He flew up to a platform overlooking the banquet hall, a large structure suspended between the great trees atop Yokai Mountain, took a deep breath and began.

"Tengu!" He called out, his voice echoing through the rafters. "This has been a good year!" The hall erupted into cheers. "Here we are, another year gone in the blink of an eye, and we've never been stronger." More cheers. "Our alliances with the kappa and Moriya are strong, our influence within the Human Village is at a peak, and this is the largest gathering our race has seen in nearly two hundred years." The cheers were deafening now, Tenma waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "But that is not all, there were two incidents this past year and both were resolved without issue. In fact, it was one of our own that ended the Four Seasons Incident before the Hakurei miko had even begun to investigate!" The hall was silent, hanging on his every word. "Not only did she single handedly resolve the incident, defeating a god in the process, but she also wrote the single greatest piece of journalism I have ever read about it. Aya Shameimaru, please step forward!"

Aya was both shocked and giddy. She had never been recognized before her brethren like this before, had never expected to be recognized like this. She stood up on slightly shaky legs and walked forward. The eyes of all were upon her and it was dead silent. Then someone started clapping behind her and like a dam was broken the rest joined in. The reporter walked forward as if in a dream, the cheering of her people washing over her. Soon she stood beneath Tenma's podium and he addressed her directly.

"Aya Shameimaru, for your dedicated service to our people and your actions over the years, I wish to grant you..." He stopped, muscles suddenly contorting in pain. Shouts and sounds of distress began to sound throughout the banquet hall. "I wish to grant..." he said through gritted teeth locking eyes with the reporter through his mask. And then suddenly, he was gone.

Aya was trapped within a dream turned nightmare. She looked around in a daze. The hall was suddenly feeling quite empty. Pandemonium broke out. Shouts, screams, and cries of anger and anguish filled the air. Everyone was rushing about like headless chickens in complete panic. Looking to her right where Sojobo had been seated, she found him sitting calmly, doing nothing. Behind her she found Hatate, mouth moving but no words audible through the mayhem. She turned and surveyed the hall a strange calm upon her, seeing the proud warriors that had been turned into gibbering fools. They were better than this. She released the tight rein she held on her power.

Wind rushed in through the open sides of the building. A howling tempest filled the hall drowning out the sounds of chaos and locking the witless warriors in place. She let it continue for a moment until she was certain she had everyone's attention before leaping upon the podium.

"Tengu!" She called, her voice rolling over the assembled masses. "This behavior is beneath you, get ahold of yourselves at once!" There was silence. Good. "We need to know what happened and why. Was it a targeted strike upon us by our rivals or was it an event that struck the whole of Gensokyo? Hatate!" She barked, "gather the info corps and begin surveying the area! Momiji! Take the remaining warriors and form a perimeter around the village! We can't..."

"Who are you to order us around?" Momiji challenged, her voice mocking.

Aya was caught dumbfounded. "This is not the time for petty..."

"Petty? You have no authority over me, you have no right..."

"SILENCE!" Sojobo's voice rolled across the hall like booming thunder. He stood; power unleashed. It felt like wind screaming over a high peak, the smell of wood smoke on a misty morning, and a naked blade at your throat. It had been centuries since Aya had felt the old tengu's power, it had only grown more potent with age. There was a reason the humans had considered him their king, despite such a position having never existed. She had, at most, a mere tenth of his engulfing power. And yet, Aya stood unphased as the rest of the rest of the tengu collapsed. She noted, with an odd feeling in her chest that she eventually identified as pride, that unlike the rest Hatate was struggling back to her feet.

"Tengu, listen to your chief!"

The pressure lifted; mutters started filling the hall as the chastised tengu regained their feet.

"Chief Aya, please continue."

She stood dumbfounded for a moment having never expected this turn of events. While she had wanted to advance, to be recognized for her talents, she had never thought to be the chief, never wanted the position. She could think later, right now she had a job to do.

"Hatate, take the nimble information corps and survey the area. We need to know what's happening outside of our village and we need to know it now. Focus on the mountain and the status of our allies, do not travel alone." Hatate saluted, a serious look on her face, but Aya thought it just made the youngster look adorable. She left and took the rest of the crow tengu with her.

"Momiji, take the mountain's defense force and form a perimeter around the village. While you do so be sure to check the entirety of the village for any stragglers who did not attend tonight's festival and remain alive. If you find any, please send them here," Momiji stood still a moment, scowling at her new chief, before turning without a word and storming off. That was going to be a problem that Aya would need to deal with soon.

"Sojobo, I want you and the other great tengu to determine who remains alive and to collaborate with the long-nose tengu and start forming a plan. We need a plan for dealing with the chaos of the next few days, a medium-term plan for how to deal with Gensokyo now that many of us are gone, and a long-term plan for recovery, reconstruction, and growth."

"Very well," Sojobo responded with a bow. "Do you wish to move into the chief's office and organize from there?"

"No, not right now. Later when things have settled a little I will, but right now a large space like this will be more helpful. Have the relevant documents brought to me and we'll work on this together."

"And what task do you have for we yamabushi tengu?" The man who had stepped forward was tall, thin, had red skin and white hair, a pair of medium-sized wings, and was leaning on a staff. Aya thought on his question for a minute. What task could she give the printers, the lowest caste in tengu society?

"Work with the long-nose tengu for now. Use their records and double check our stores. We need to know exactly what resources we have available if we are to survive the coming weeks. Now go!"

He scurried out with the rest of his folk and there was silence. Aya stepped off the platform descending back to the floor of the banquet hall and grabbed an empty table and chair. She would have lots of work to do, but perhaps for a few moments she could rest.

A heavy 'thump' dispelled her notions and suddenly there was a stack of paperwork nearly as tall as she was sitting on her table. Sojobo stepped out from behind it.

"This here is the work that Tenma had left undone. Much of it may no longer be relevant, but it should still be checked regardless." The old tengu's eyes were twinkling in mirth as Aya gaped at him.

Before she could respond there was another 'thump' as an equally massive stack was set on the other end of the table. The tengu who stepped out from behind the new stack was a stern-looking woman with grey-streaked hair and glasses.

"Here are the documents you requested," she stated before leaving abruptly.

Well... her people certainly were efficient. Now if only she was more than one person, going through these stacks would take ages alone... Wait, she had a student (of a sort) didn't she? Perhaps it was time to make the relationship official.

* * *

Hatate returned with bleak news as dawn broke, but it gave a welcome reprieve to the white papery hell Aya had found herself in. She had managed to complete the first stack of paperwork along with half of the second, an achievement worthy of song in her opinion, only to have them replaced by two more even larger piles. Those jerks were hazing her with paperwork, she could tell. Also, Tenma was a jerk for leaving so much work for her. She finished examining the last paper detailing that arrogant punk Tenma's plans for her, some of which she liked but most of which she very much didn't so his passing was a blessing in disguise. She tossed the paper into the air and shredded it with her ability, then motioned for Hatate to begin.

"We split up into pairs to comb the mountain. It's far too empty. Not only are many of the lesser yokai that once inhabited the forest simply gone, so is much of the forest and the wildlife. It was disconcerting."

"So it wasn't just us then."

"No. While we didn't go far past the foot of the mountain, everything we saw indicates that this event hit everyone."

"And what of our allies?"

"The Moriya were missing. I couldn't say if that means they disappeared or just happened to be elsewhere, but if gods have died too then we have a serious problem."

"What about Hina Kagiyama and the Aki sisters? Did you see them?"

"No, we didn't see them either. However, it was very late when we stopped by their houses so they may simply have been asleep."

"Hopefully they weren't affected. Lastly, how were the kappa?"

"In chaos, as could be expected given the circumstances. It sounds like that is their normal state of being, but considering the massive amount of looting going on as they raided the workshops of those now gone it's far worse than normal. About half the corps stayed behind to try and bring order to their village."

"Well, it always was a disaster waiting to happen. Kappa may be industrious and innovative, but lack coordination, organizational skills, and the ability to plan ahead. They tend to flock around the best speakers or inventors forming 'workshops', but even those are in flux as they are always competing for influence through their creations and often change who they follow. Fortunes in the kappa village tend to both rise and fall quickly, and an event like this must have destroyed their whole social system. What a mess. I'll have to send the white wolf tengu in to go sort it out and see if we can't install a more stable type of government. Was there anything else?"

"There doesn't appear to be anything else of note regarding Yokai Mountain and its vicinity. We'll revisit the mountain's gods once it is fully light to determine if they are gone or were merely away or asleep. A number of patrols were sent farther out to determine the status of the rest of Gensokyo, it will likely be a few hours before they report."

"Good initiative, anyway, Hatate," the girl stood up straighter. "I've been thinking; we need to make our relationship a bit more official." Seeing the girl's confusion, she clarified: "Our relationship as master and student or apprentice." There was a sudden eager anticipation in Hatate's expression. "I've been blowing you off for years on the matter but, given the circumstances, think it would be best if you started working with me directly instead of attempting to copy me from a distance. The document is already written; all you need to do is sign here..."

The page was ripped out of Aya's hand and signed in an instant, Hatate beaming at her. Aya sighed, "You didn't read the document, did you?"

"What?"

"Lesson number one: always read a contract before signing it. Congratulations assistant," Aya said with a grin as she watched the blood drain out of Hatate's face as she quickly read the document, "you're now in charge of the paperwork."

"Wait, wait, give me a do-over!" The girl begged, surveying the mountain of paper.

"Nope!" Aya said cheerfully as she stood and started to leave.

"Where are you going?!"

"To check on the white wolf tengu and then take a short nap. I'll be back later," and Aya left the building with a wave, whistling a jaunty tune. The cries of paperwork-induced despair behind her were music to her ears. She shook her head; the girl _still _hadn't properly read the contract if she thought Aya had simply used her to escape the paperwork. Hatate would learn, in time.

* * *

When Aya returned to the banquet hall late that morning she found a far smaller pile of paperwork and Sojobo sitting beside Hatate, the two of them working.

"Ah, I see you have returned to us Chief," the old tengu said putting down his brush and covering his inkpot.

"I needed a bit of time to clear my head, but can get back to work now," Aya said approaching the table.

"No need," Sojobo replied, "you completed the most urgent work last night and all that remains is to finish updating the records of our supplies and looking over the census of those who remain. That will not take long, and when complete it can be passed on to the great tengu and long-nose tengu so they can begin to plan."

"So," Aya asked them, "what is the status of the village and our people?"

"All things considered, not too bad," the ancient tengu replied slowly. "We are almost certainly in a better position than most in this realm, in part thanks to your quick action to restore order before chaos could take hold."

"In…" Hatate tried to continue, but was stymied by a yawn. "Indeed," she said cheeks rosy, "We have abundant stores as these past few years have been fruitful, enough that we can assist those who find themselves on the brink of collapse and in doing so improve our influence and power. It appears about half our number are gone, though who was taken by the incident was entirely random. Some entire families have been wiped out while others remain without loss."

"And what of your family Hatate?" Aya asked gently. The tears that were forming in the young tengu's eyes were all the answer she needed.

"Rest young Himekaidou, your assistance has been much appreciated and I will take it from here." Hatate nodded and left, despondent. When she was gone Sojobo continued with a shake of his head, "A real tragedy that. Not just her parents, but also her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and all four cousins… her entire family vanished. Wonderful, hardworking people all, they will be sorely missed. She is the last of the Himekaidou and I am sure that she will do her family proud. But enough of that, you wished to ask something?"

"Yes, this morning Hatate reported that the Aki sisters, Hina, and the Moriya were all missing. Any news on them? We need to know if this incident impacted even the gods."

"Hmm… An hour ago we received word that Hina was spotted returning to her home and that the Aki sisters were in the Human Village when it occurred and remain there for now. No word on the Moriya."

Aya was about to speak as she made her way back towards her seat when the legendary tengu spoke again interrupting her. "As I said earlier there is no need for you here at the moment, I will take care of the rest of this work. You would serve us best if you went and saw the state of Gensokyo for yourself. Go, interview and explore, learn what happened so you may make the best possible decision for the sake of our people and lead us back to the path of prosperity. You are chief now, play to your strengths and decide our course, we are here to assist you and determine the best method by which to enact your will. Now go!"

* * *

The first thing Aya did was check on the Moriya shrine. It was, as had been reported, completely empty. Straining her senses, she listened to the wind to see if it had captured any hints of their fate. In the present the shrine was entirely silent. There was no sound. No lap of water upon the shore of the small lake behind the shrine buildings, no wind through the trees, no rustle of animals through the bushes. Nothing.

Straining her senses further, she used her abilities to bring forth the memory of the wind. Aya pushed it backwards in time, farther and farther until she heard the sounds of the world return to normal. The sounds of last night. There was chatter and laughter from the shrine's residents, it seemed they had been doing something communal in the main room when a sudden sound assaulted her ears. It was, at the same time, a faint reverberation that could hardly be detected, the slightest of sounds that such that it had not even registered the night before, and yet it was also an overwhelming explosion of noise and power that blotted out her senses. By the time she recovered it was over, and silence had claimed the shrine.

Stepping within the shrine she found slight traces of magic. Some were tied to the shrine itself, defenses and wards against evil along with an aura of purity that weakened and repulsed lesser yokai. Others were more recent and far stronger, a power she could not place. Aya opened the doors to the main shrine building and stepped inside, and found herself back at the entrance under the torii gates.

Stepping within the shrine she found slight traces of magic. Some were tied to the shrine itself, defenses and wards against evil along with an aura of purity that weakened and repulsed lesser yokai. Others were more recent and far stronger, a power she could not place. Aya opened the doors to the main shrine building and stepped inside, and found herself back at the entrance under the torii gates.

Stepping within the shrine she found slight traces of magic. Some were tied to the shrine itself, defenses and wards… wait. Aya stopped, turned around and left the shrine. Probing its boundaries gently with the wind she found that after a short time it simply came back out where it had entered. The shrine seemed to have been placed into some sort of temporal stasis by its inhabitants. Had it saved them? Would they still be impacted once it fell? There was no way to tell. She did not have the expertise to deal with this magic- the shrine was frozen in time and those outside could not influence it. No wonder the crow tengu found nothing when they visited. Perhaps it could be broken by the vampire's maid as she had power over time, or perhaps it would weaken and break after long enough. Either way, there was nothing she could do.

Travelling quickly, Aya approached the kappa's village. Numerous tengu could be found patrolling the area and it appeared that martial law had been put into place and the kappa confined to their workshops and homes as only tengu walked the streets. A few workshops still smoldered and one appeared to have been victim of an explosion, but her people had done their job and restored order. Aya left, her presence unnecessary, and headed for the Human Village.

* * *

The Human Village was, as its name implied, where the humans of Gensokyo lived as it was the only truly safe place for them in this yokai infested land. It hadn't changed much, if any, in the years since the barrier was raised and Gensokyo separated from the rest of Japan. There was a larger population of humans than at the start, perhaps ten or twenty thousand in total, the farms surrounding the village were more expansive, and Aya couldn't remember if it had always had that wall, but otherwise it looked much like a typical village from the Meiji era complete with wide roads and flammable wooden buildings.

That flammability was very much on display this day as the smoldering wrecks of several buildings could attest. As Aya flew over the village she found a large crowd in the central square with more being herded in by humans dressed as enforcers. A raised platform to one end of the square held several humans that she recognized as important looking sternly down at about a dozen men with the rest of the villagers in a semi-circle around them. Judging by the jeers, it seemed that these men were likely those responsible for the burnt buildings.

Not wanting to be caught in the politics of the Human Village, Aya looked around and found Marisa speaking to the village guardian on a side street. Landing silently beside them, she pulled out a notepad and pen and interrupted their heated conversation: "Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time?"

Marisa jumped and whirled around, Aya having projected her voice directly behind the witch. After a second of confusion, she spotted the tengu reporter. "Aya! What are you doing here?"

"Indeed," Keine added, "what brings one of the tengu to my village on this day?"

"Simple. I need to know what happened. So, will you answer my questions?" Aya put pen to paper, looking at them expectantly.

Marisa scowled. "What? So you can get a leg up on your competition in reporting on it? No way you opportunistic crow!"

"No," Aya responded diplomatically, "so that I can get a measure for how badly this incident has impacted Gensokyo and see if there is anything the tengu can do to help."

"What? Did your precious Tenma order you here so you can prey on the villagers with feigned altruism?" Marisa responded with a sneer. "You tengu never do anything if it doesn't benefit you in some way."

"Tenma's dead," Aya responded coldly. "As are many tengu. We have a new chief who is doing what they can to mitigate this crisis, which includes giving aid to those who need it." She took in the witch's haggard appearance with sharp eyes before dealing the final blow. "Tell me, did you family survive?"

Marisa looked like she had been slapped, but quickly regathering herself stormed off. Aya could tell that her bluster was merely an attempt to hide her grief. Poor girl, but she didn't have time to play games at the moment. Turning back to Keine she asked: "So, what is the situation here in the human village?"

"Was that really necessary? She's lost a lot today," the blue-clad schoolteacher asked.

"So has everyone else and if I took the time to console each and every one of them, I'd still be standing here a year from now. There are more important things to focus on right now. What can you tell me about what occurred around sunset last night?"

"Very well. I think it was shortly before 8 in the evening and I was taking a stroll through the town. My plan was to meet up with Mokou at the edge of the Bamboo Forest about an hour later after her daily fight with Kaguya, but that obviously didn't happen. I was walking through town enjoying the cool breeze when people all over the place just started turning to dust. It was… how do I even describe a scene like that?"

Aya grimaced, "No need, having witnessed something similar it's easy enough to imagine. Continue, what was the village's reaction?"

"Utter chaos. Some started feverishly praying to the gods for help, others walked around listlessly thinking it was the end of the world, many ran about frantically searching for friends and family, and of course some were overcome by greed."

"Would those be the ones I saw on trial in the square?"

"That was but a fraction of those who's first instinct was to loot and steal," Keine said sadly. "Fights broke out around the village as people began to fight over supplies and many died. Hundreds were involved, but so far we have only positively identified a handful of them. I did what I could to limit the violence, but am only one person. Unfortunately, in the chaos a number of fires broke out and several storehouses were burned to the ground."

"And now? Things seem to be contained at the moment."

"At the moment, yes. It took all night to achieve, but eventually we were able to restore a semblance of order to the village. However, it's still chaos right below the surface and the moment the sun goes down it's likely to erupt into violence once more. The village elders and leaders, those that remain, are trying to rein it in, but I feel it's unlikely to work. All it would take is a single act of violence or arson for it to all fall apart again."

"Would stationing some tengu here to help keep the peace be helpful?"

"No, if anything that is likely to have the opposite effect. There are a lot of rumors that the yokai were behind 'the vanishing' as it's already being called, so bringing yokai into the village could set off a panic."

"All right, what about your food stores? You said several warehouses burned down."

"Uncertain as we haven't yet had a chance to survey the damage, but the situation is probably bad. It doesn't help that there was a lot of fearmongering which resulted in a rush on the markets where many merchants rather conveniently had nearly double their normal prices. Hopefully we will have the situation under control by tomorrow and can determine our status."

Aya finished writing and closed her notebook with a snap. "Well then, let us know if you do find you need assistance, we have more than enough to share. And if your leaders are opposed to accepting aid from the tengu, then we can set up a market just outside the gates and sell our goods for low prices until the village has stabilized. Hopefully next time we meet it will be under better circumstances."

"We can only hope," Keine replied.

With that, Aya shot into the sky and flew to the Hakurei shrine arriving seconds later, a mighty gust of wind heralding her arrival. She strode over to the shrine doors and opened them with gusto. She needed answers, and she needed them now. Unfortunately, she was greeted by a very unexpected set of faces: the vampire Remilia, a rabbit from Eintei, a satori she didn't know, and a hell raven. Reimu was not present.

Ignoring her feelings at the moment, she put on a cheeky grin and said: "Oh ho? What's this, a clandestine meeting in the shrine without Reimu? I smell a scoop!" The response was something she had feared, Reimu was gone too. So she sat and listened to the rabbit tell her tale writing notes as Tewi talked. Soon the story was over so Aya questioned Tewi and the others about what had happened over a cup of tea and a light meal. Their tales were grim and painted a very ugly picture about the situation of those living within Gensokyo.

Aya left the shrine several hours later, her questions exhausted, as the sun approached the horizon. Already vast shadows stretched over the land cast by Yokai Mountain as the day died. She was about to head back to her village to start making plans when she noticed something very odd in the center of the shrine. It was a perfectly circular black disk. As she approached, she found that it was flat as well. Before she had a chance to call out to the others in the shrine a figure stepped out. It was Ran Yakumo, Yukari Yakumo's shikigami, and it did not look like she had good news.

"Aya Shameimaru, I have a task for you," the nine-tailed fox said looking at her. Something seemed different about Ran, but as Aya had not interacted with her much she couldn't say for certain what it was.

"And what is your task?"

"A necessary one for our survival. Yukari is dead. Reimu is dead. The barrier is unlikely to last for more than a day or two. I am calling a council here at the Hakurei shrine and need you to inform as many important or powerful people as you can. We have much to discuss."

As Aya flew off in shock she realized what it was about Ran that had been bothering her: she wasn't wearing her floppy hat.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Tenma was planning on doing two things before he was dusted. First, he was going to elevate Aya to being in charge of the Nimble Information Corps which would essentially elevate her to the level of a great tengu which is exactly what she wanted. And then he was going to announce to everyone that he was planning to marry her, which would have pissed off a lot of people but especially Aya (mostly because she didn't know him at all and didn't have a great opinion of the boy to begin with and him announcing his intentions in such a public manner would more or less force her to comply if she wanted to remain part of tengu society). But he's gone and didn't get a chance to be an idiot and now Aya's the chief and has to deal with the joy of paperwork.

Also, Sojobo- not a character in Touhou but as a prominent tengu from Japanese mythology (said to be the tengu king and have the strength of 1000 tengu) so I decided he'd make a good addition.

Next chapter: Ran


	6. Ran

Chapter 6

Ran

* * *

It had been a normal day, or as normal as it got in the Yakumo household. Chen had vanished while Ran had been cleaning up after breakfast and was nowhere to be found (probably in Mayohiga with her cats or running about with Cirno's gang) and Yukari was being lazy as usual leaving Ran with all the chores. Again. As she always did. Whether it was housework ("Ran, it is laundry day!") or performing meaningless calculations ("Ran, if I built a ladder up to the moon how long would it take to climb it?) or acting as a messenger ("Ran, be a dear and deliver this message to Yuuka.") or enforcer ("Ran, the kappa are building something dangerous again. Go put an end to it.") or spy ("Ran, go infiltrate the Tengu village and test their defenses. Don't get caught.") she always had something to do. It was exhausting. Meanwhile Yukari would only move from her bed to lay on the couch or sit at the table all the while holding half a dozen of her gaps open watching the inhabitants of Gensokyo as if it were a sitcom. Then dinner came (Ran cooked, of course) and Chen magically reappeared covered in mud and Ran had to both wash her unruly shikigami and ensure dinner didn't burn at the same time as not only was Yukari too lazy to help out, but she had also managed to summon up enough energy to leave the house for the first time in a week ("Ran, I'm heading out for a bit, be sure dinner is ready when I'm back. Ta ta!). Ran may have been exhausted, but she was also content. All in all, it was just another ordinary day for the Yakumo household.

Yukari returned just as dinner was being set on the table wearing a complicated expression that Ran could not place despite her ingrained cold-reading abilities that would have made Sherlock green with envy. Dinner was normal enough when it began with Chen yammering away about her day and the adventures she had had and the pranks she had played. Yukari's expression settled as the cat yokai's words flowed over them, eyes distant and expression melancholic, not a normal look for her master. Eventually even Chen noticed something was off, and her stream-of-consciousness chatter came to an end.

The silence was becoming uncomfortable as the two shikigami watched Yukari while she savored her cup of tea. Eventually, right as Ran was certain that Chen was about to explode, unable to contain her boundless energy any longer, Yukari finally spoke: "Ran Yakumo, Chen Yakumo, have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate having the two of you in my family?" She hadn't. Both were poleaxed by her words, especially Chen who had not yet been given the name Yakumo. The young nekomata had tears in her eyes and launched herself at Yukari with a wail. Yukari effortlessly caught the girl and pulled her into an embrace, a soft smile on her face.

"The two of you are like the daughters I never had and I love both of you dearly, never forget that." Yukari stood releasing Chen, a distant expression on her face once more. Ran had a sinking sensation in her stomach. "Take care of each other and bring honor to the Yakumo name." That feeling solidified into a sense of dread, a premonition that something terrible was about to happen.

"Yukari," Ran started, hesitant. "About that trip you took earlier…"

"I had to go speak with someone. That which is about to occur could not have been averted, not with Gensokyo the way it is. Perhaps, had we acted in time this could all have been avoided, but yokai are selfish creatures and we were too wrapped up in our internal conflicts and petty rivalries to make a difference. We focused inward when we should have been looking outward. And now it is too late." There were tears in Ran's eyes and Chen was crying again, but this time out of sorrow rather than joy.

"Ran, you know what needs to be done. No matter how hard it is, keep striving, don't give up, don't lose hope. Chen, you have the potential to be great. Move forward, don't look back, and you will find yourself a great leader of both yokai and men. Ran, Chen, I am proud of both of you. We will meet again someday."

And then, Yukari Yakumo, the great yokai of boundaries vanished, becoming dust before their eyes, a smile on her face. Ran's mind broke, shikigami perishing with its master.

…

It was as if she was emerging from a pool of very deep water. It had been decades if not centuries since she was able to act of her own accord having been suppressed by that false being, that shikigami. It was, of course, part of the deal that she had struck with Yukari so very long ago. Her life, her existence, her survival, in exchange for serving Yukari. She had assumed that there would be a chance to escape, to be herself again, but Yukari was careful and crafty. Her consciousness had been thrust deep into her mind, buried beneath Ran and carefully sealed away. She should have been angry, early on she had been angry to be locked away and forgotten like that, but what was the point? Yukari had treated her well, and now she was dead.

A soul-aching sense of loss came over her, Yukari was dead. She didn't quite understand why it affected her so strongly; it was Ran that Yukari had cared for, not her. And yet despite that, despite being exiled to the depths of the subconscious, she felt, knew, that Yukari was her family. That if she had broken free of her restraints, had destroyed the shikigami that had replaced her, Yukari would still have cared for her and little would have changed. She may not have been in control, or particularly lucid, watching the actions of Ran while in a dream-like state, but those actions that were taken by another still impacted her, resonated with her.

She paused in her ascent, her struggle back to wakefulness in the aftermath of Ran's abrupt departure to take stock of her condition. After a moments' soul searching, she metaphorically froze in shock; she was more than she had remembered being so many years ago. Ran may have been dead and gone, but large portions of what had once been Ran had been absorbed by her and filled in the pieces that she had lost over the ages, or perhaps had been missing from the start. Ran's memories, her thoughts, hopes and dreams, her abilities, that which made Ran Ran, they were all part of her now. Even Ran's affection for that stupid hat she wore (it was a present from Yukari) was carried over. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or sob at her discovery, but given her current condition it wasn't like she could truly do either.

She could feel something now, like a sound muffled by distance or vibrations through a wall. Something, someone, was calling for her. She continued her struggle, her ascent, her return to control and decided to put off her soul-searching for later. She had a task to do.

…

She regained awareness slowly. Her body felt leaden, her muscles unmoving. With a great force of will she opened her eyes and found Chen shaking her, pleading with her to return, tears streaming down her face. Mind in shambles, she lay there unmoving, unfeeling, as she tried to sort out what had occurred. She had been eating dinner with Yukari and Chen when her master- former master- started to monologue and then… 'Ran, you know what needs to be done.' Those words resonated with her, urged her to action.

Sitting up suddenly, she dislodged the blubbering Chen. This was no time to be lying idle, there was much that had to be done. A missile suddenly impacted her chest, knocking her down again, a crying Chen holding on to her tightly. She could not make out the words but understood their intent. Soon Chen was asleep and put to bed and she had a task to do.

But first, who was she? She wasn't Ran, for Ran had perished with Yukari, that much was clear. And yet she wasn't her old self either as she had been suppressed by Ran for centuries but now Ran was part of her. She both was Ran Yakumo, and was not. She both was her old self, her original self, and was not. She was, at the same time, both of them and neither, a being that was more than either had been. Not a shikigami but a nine-tailed fox, a kitsune no kyuubi, once more in truth instead of simply appearance. It was confusing. She thought for a moment before deciding it could all be sorted later. Ran Yakumo was the name Yukari had given her upon their contract. Ran Yakumo was the name Yukari had asked her to carry with pride shortly before her end. Ran Yakumo was the name she would continue to use until she thought of one that fit better. Her old name was unneeded at the moment.

There was, however, one change that had to be made. A change to indicate her new, or rather old, nature. Much as it pained her to do so, she reached up and removed her floppy hat. That was not her, not anymore. Carefully she placed it on her night stand before opening her dresser to find new headwear. The circlet sat atop her clothes waiting for her. It was a beautiful piece of gold and platinum carved to look like intertwining flowering vines studded with amethyst and sapphire. Ran picked it up, admiring it. It had not been there that morning; Yukari must have had it made for her before her passing and snuck it into her room earlier. Ran put it on and felt complete.

* * *

First, she checked the barrier. This was a simple task considering they resided within it. With Yukari gone, maintenance would be difficult but doable. She paused and grimaced. Cracks ran throughout the barrier, the outside world beginning to bleed through. Whatever it was that had taken Yukari had done serious damage to the barrier, it looked like it could fail at any time. Ran spent the next several hours using her powers to shore up several anchors and stitch some of the cracks back together. As she was not one of the yokai sages who had created the barrier or the shrine maiden who upheld it, she could barely fix the barrier faster than it failed. Her patchwork repair job would hold the barrier together for a day or two, but already she could see new holes opening. Ran feared the worst.

A quick check on the Hakurei shrine found its inhabitant missing. Casting out her senses Ran found no trace of her. So Reimu was gone too, this was very bad and explained the rapid degradation of the barrier. There was no way to save it. The remaining sages (if any yet remained) may be able to delay the inevitable for a time, but without Reimu the barrier would fail. Yukari's words ran through her mind once more and she grimaced. There were a few other things she could check first before resorting to that.

She opened a portal before her, a gap in the fabric of reality. Ran had no mastery over this ability, or really an ability at all, but her centuries at Yukari's side had caused some of the sage's power to bleed into her granting her a very limited skill that was only really useful for travel. The void behind the portal was empty and black, the eyes that had once decorated it gone with the realm's master. Grimacing at the reminder, Ran stepped into the dark and emerged on the shore of a wide misty river. The other side was not visible.

Before long she could hear the splash of oars upon the water and a boat appeared bearing a girl with vibrant red hair and a scythe. The lazy Shinigami Komachi stepped off her vessel and approached the kitsune.

"You will not find your master here," she informed Ran.

"Is that so? Did she already cross over?" Ran asked.

"No, she did not," Komachi answered.

"Then where has she gone? She turned into dust before my eyes; Yukari Yakumo is most certainly dead."

Komachi grimaced. "We don't know. We don't know where she, or anyone else has gone. The yama are going ballistic and the Ministry of Right and Wrong is in an uproar," she sighed. "I'm not going to have a chance to rest for a while because of it all, please tell me you know who caused it."

"Sorry, I haven't a clue. I think Yukari knew, but she didn't inform me prior to her… passing. Were your people also impacted?"

"Us? No. The event did not impact those involved with the afterlife or those already dead like the denizens of Hakugyokurou. But just because it didn't hit us doesn't mean we weren't impacted. Roughly half of all souls simply vanished into thin air and a large number of people in the outside world died in accidents related to people vanishing- airplanes were falling out of the sky all over the place as their pilots died killing all remaining passengers. At least those souls went where they were supposed to. Suddenly all of our projections and careful work over the years has been invalidated and Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu has gone on a rampage to find the one responsible and bring them to justice."

"So this event hit the outside world too… Well surely that isn't as bad as half the world suddenly rushing to cross the Sanzu river, right?"

"The yamas would have been quite pissed if that had happened, but at least they would still know where all the souls they were responsible for were located. Either way I have months of work ahead of me- they tasked me with finding the cause of this Incident and ending it," she finished in a dark tone promising violent retribution.

Ran patted the Shinigami on the shoulder, then took a step back and straightened and spoke in a tone that commanded attention, a regal tone. "Komachi Onozuka, I am tasking you to cross the river to Higan and return with Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu. There will be a council at sunset at the Hakurei shrine where we shall discuss this Incident, attempt to determine what happened, who caused it, and what to do about the situation."

Komachi stared at Ran as if seeing her for the first time. She walked up to and around her, looking at her from every angle. "You know," she said conversationally, "I had always wondered what happened to you. To think that you were here the whole time… Are you sure you want me to go pick up Eiki?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope. Just be prepared for an hours-long lecture if I bring her."

"Then that is a price I'm willing to pay. We need her wisdom."

"Your funeral," Komachi responded with a careless shrug. She wandered back towards her boat whistling a dirge. Ran waited until she was out of sight once more before leaving. Next she would head to Hakugyokurou. Even if it hadn't been impacted, Yuyuko would need to hear of the passing of her friend.

* * *

Located in the air far above Gensokyo was the entrance to the netherworld. It had at one point been sealed off by the barrier of life and death with only the dead able to enter the realm by passing through the gates. However, nearly a decade earlier, during the spring snow incident the barrier was torn about the gates and that hole had never been repaired. Even though Reimu had challenged and defeated Yukari in battle and demanded that the she fix the barrier, Yukari had never bothered to comply due to sheer laziness. It had irked Ran at the time, first that she was defeated multiple times in short succession and then that Yukari ignored the problem, but it made her trip quite easy. After leaving the banks of the Sanzu River she quickly ascended into the air and flew over the gates.

The netherwold was a peaceful realm. In it resided those who had neither committed great sins or been exceptionally virtuous in life. Those neither sentenced to hell nor judged worth of heaven were its residents. It was a quiet, peaceful, and unchanging realm of contemplation for those who had passed. As Ran flew along the main path, she saw numerous ghosts and phantoms drifting along enjoying the summer heat and completely ignoring her intrusion. It appeared that Komachi had been truthful when she said that the dead were unaffected by the Incident.

Ran flew on up a very long staircase that led to Hakugyokurou the realm of artists and dwelling of Yuyuko Saigyouji. Up the stairs, over the spectacularly decorated walls, through the carefully cultivated gardens in full bloom, to the back of the mansion where the netherworld princess sat surrounded by empty sake jars.

Ran landed, standing not five feet in front of the ghost, but Yuyuko did not respond. The stench of alcohol wafted from her; a smell Ran would have normally associated with an oni like Suika instead of Yuyuko. She was an absolute mess with stained clothes and red-rimmed eyes. Her servant Youmu Konpaku was nowhere to be seen.

"Lady Yuyuko?" Ran called. Yuyuko did not respond, her eyes vacant, as she robotically lifted and drained another saucer of sake.

"Lady Yuyuko, where's Youmu?" Ran tried again. Yuyuko twitched slightly, but continued to ignore her, refilling her sake dish once more. It seemed there was only one way to reach her, so Ran entered the building.

An hour later she returned with a feast, hoping that in the presence of food Yuyuko's gluttony would return her to the present. It worked as Ran had intended as every morsel Yuyuko ate cleared the fog in her mind and slowly returned her to the present. By the time the last grain of rice was gone and enough food to feed 10 men consumed, the ghost princess was merely drunk instead of both drunk and mentally absent.

"Huh… Ran? When, when didsh youu arv… arra… arre.. get h-here?" She slurred as she swayed back and forth, this time holding an ornately decorated masu, a wooden box cup, full of sake. Lifting it to her lips, she drained the box in one uncoordinated action, spilling a fair bit of it down her front. Setting the box back down, she reached for her jar of sake to refill it but found she could not lift it. Ran was holding it in place.

"I think that's enough sake for today Lady Yuyuko," she said softly.

"Enoush? _ENOPHSH?! _Nuffinsh will be enousfsh!" Anger suddenly replacing her melancholy. She struggled for a bit, trying to wrest control of the jar from Ran, but only managed to fall over knocking over several empty jars in the process.

"Yes, you have had enough. Now come, let's get you cleaned up."

Yuyuko lay there on her porch, anger gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and she began to weep noisily and messily. "Shesh gone… gone… my Youmu gone… Why didsh she leavesh me? Why didss sshe crubmel intosh dust before myshelf? Not evensh Myon remainshs… Why mysh Youmu? No on elsh in the nesher… neter... never... this plashe wash hurt. Only Konpaku. Why?" By this point Yuyuko had raised herself once more and had begun clinging to the front of Ran's tabard with an unbreakable grip. Ran was about to respond, when Yuyuko continued in a soft voice so low that she could barely make out the words: "My abilities were completely useless, what's the point of having power over death when it is unable to prevent the deaths of those you love?"

"From what I heard," Ran responded, "the dead were unaffected by the Incident. However, Youmu was half human. It could be that it destroyed her human half leaving her phantom half without an anchor so it too was destroyed."

"So, what brings you here today?" Yuyuko asked, eyes sharp and any indication of her previous intoxication gone barring slightly flushed cheeks. "Does Yukari require my assistance in the ongoing crisis?"

Ran hesitated to respond, unsure of how Yuyuko would take it given her extreme mood swings. Yuyuko caught her hesitation and her face fell. "Yukari too?" Ran didn't respond, tears began to silently roll down Yuyuko's face. Lifting her hand Ran found her own cheeks wet with tears. "It seems the world has conspired to steal all I love from me," Yuyuko continued in a resigned tone.

"Drink with me," the ghost commanded, "drink with me to remember those we have lost this day."

They sat in silence for a moment, remembering that which had past, that which would never be again. Ran drained her saucer and stood. "Lady Yuyuko, I'm sorry but I have obligations. This evening there will be a council at the Hakurei shrine, I would like for you to attend."

"Go, go and do what you must, go and do what needs to be done," She said, unknowingly echoing Yukari's last words. Then, staring into the distance as she swirled her saucer of sake, she finished quietly and with an almost hidden spark of rage: "I will be there this evening, I am certain there is much to discuss."

So Ran left the netherworld, feeling a little more empty than she had before her encounter with the Lady of Hakugyokurou.

* * *

When Ran reentered her home, she was immediately accosted by Chen.

"Ran, Ran! IwokeupandyouweregoneandIwasscaredandthingsarestrangeandwheredidyougoand…"

"Wait, calm down, breathe, and speak slowly this time so I can understand you."

Chen stopped her incoherent rambling as she bounced up and down in front of the taller yokai, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as she stilled, her brown eyes gaining focus.

"All right, now what was your first question?"

"Ran, where were you? I was worried when I woke up and you were gone." Chen spoke slowly and clearly this time, the difficulty of maintaining her forced calm betrayed by the twitching of her ears and tails.

"I was out investigating the Incident. The boundary is in bad shape and I had to meet with several people. Next question?"

"Why… why do I feel stronger?"

Ran was surprised by this question, if anything she would have expected both Chen and herself to have weakened with Yukari's… passing. She reached out to the excitable girl and touched her forehead allowing her own energy to brush against Chen's. The results surprised her. Before, Chen's energy had reflected her nature: a churning maelstrom of chaotic motion, a pond that was never at rest. Now, however, that pond had deepened and broadened into a lake and the surface seemed calm though beneath it was roiling with currents and turbulent eddies. If Ran had to put a number on it, she would guess that Chen's strength had more than doubled and her energies calmed somewhat. There was something else however…

"Chen," Ran asked seriously, "are you able to use sorcery?"

"Of course I can!" Chen looked affronted and pouted at Ran. A second illusory Chen appeared next to her, doubling the power of Chen's attack.

This was concerning. Chen had never been capable of using sorcery, that was an ability tied to the shikigami that could possess Chen. 'Then again,' Ran thought, 'it appears that her situation is much like my own, but she doesn't seem to have realized that the shikigami is gone- perhaps because it was only a partial possession unlike in my case.'

"How very interesting…" Ran audibly mused, effortlessly deflecting Chen's attempt at manipulation via double pout with the ease of long practice. A shikigami's strength was dependent on the strength of its master and how closely its will aligned with that of its master, though Chen's strength had never been particularly high due to being the shikigami of a shikigami and a rather rebellious one at that. Strangely, there was still a link between her and Chen providing the young yokai with strength even though she was no longer, technically, her shikigami. Even that seemed to be providing more strength to the girl than it had previously despite the altered nature of their bond, which had some interesting implications.

Ignoring the again rambunctious Chens who were beginning to bounce off the walls (quite literally), Ran focused her attention inward and was stunned. She was aware that she had somehow subsumed the shikigami that had previously had control along with its abilities, but had assumed that she had gained no actual power from it due to Yukari's passing. She was wrong. Her strength was overflowing. Ran was stronger at this point than she ever had been before. While her strength had not doubled like Chen's had (or even nearly doubled for that matter), it was substantially greater than it had been at its peak either as her old self prior to meeting Yukari or as her shikigami self when she had been exactly following Yukari's will. If she had to compare it to someone, she would say that her strength was close to what Yukari's had been, or perhaps a little stronger (not that such differences mattered much to the strongest of Yokai- winning fights always came down to technique, skill, or deception rather than pure strength).

Returning her senses to the world at large, she reached out and plucked Chen out of the air (her bouncing off the walls had morphed into bouncing off everything at slowly increasing speed).

"Chen, I have a task for you." Immediately the girl stopped attempting to escape her grasp. "I'm certain you noticed the state of the barrier," the blank look on her face said that she had not. "There is no way to save it and I need you to go and scout the outside world," Chen began to grin. "I want you to spend the next two days outside the barrier learning everything you can about the current state of Japan," the grin grew wider. "I will use my own methods to see what I can of the status of the outside world, but I also need you to investigate in person. Do not be noticed by the humans, do not be sidetracked too much by your curiosity, try not to stir up too much trouble, and be back here by dusk two days from now." Ran released Chen from her hold and the girl dashed to her room, giddy with excitement. Ran wondered if she had just unleashed something terrible upon the world.

Retiring to her room after sending Chen on her way, Ran made use of those abilities she had inherited from Yukari to observe the outside world. The boundary was frail and her strength was great, but even still it took an hour to create a clear image through much trial and error. What immediately struck Ran was that Japan was in chaos. It was in far greater chaos than those within Gensokyo were experiencing. There were mobs of people running down the streets of the city she was observing, rioting and looting and burning. Not a single store appeared to be undamaged and no cars moved upon the streets, abandoned vehicles choking the roads their owners now vanished. The towering buildings of steel and glass, larger and more numerous than they had been last time Ran had been sent on an errand beyond the boundary, were damaged with windows knocked out and furniture tossed from high above down into the streets below where it had shattered. More than one building was ablaze. It seemed almost as if it was the aftermath of several massive natural disasters- an enormous earthquake, super typhoon, and volcanic eruption- all rolled into one. There were no police or military officers out enforcing curfew or restoring order, only chaos remained.

Turning her attention to Tokyo, the mightiest of cities, she found the same but worse. The sheer number of people present in the city meant that whatever the rest of Japan was experiencing was magnified there. No one seemed to know what to do or how to deal with it, and the looters, the opportunistic, the criminals, the yakuza took advantage. In fact, the only order of any sort she found was where the Yakuza were enforcing their presence, where they were rapidly expanding their territories (and ranks) under the guise of 'restoring order' or 'doing public service'.

Moving on to the National Diet Building found the government paralyzed into inaction. Many were dead. How many? Who knows? Was the PM dead or simply stuck at home? Not a clue. What about the speaker, or the president, or the minister of finance or the minister of defense? Don't know. Those who had managed to arrive that morning (far less than half the usual staff) were running in circles going from pointless meeting to pointless meeting as they tried to pass off the job of dealing with this mess to others higher up in the hierarchy only to be unsure if they remained or not. It would be weeks, at best, before they were able to organize a response of any sort to this disaster. Ran moved on.

Chaos, destruction, chaos, panic, chaos, fear, chaos, chaos, chaos! The nation was on the verge of falling apart, but within that chaos and disorder was an opportunity for Gensokyo, for the yokai as a whole and for Ran personally. So, Ran began to scheme and Yukari's words resounded in her mind once more.

* * *

It was evening by the time Ran had finished plotting. She stepped out of the gap to the Hakurei Shrine and found Aya Shameimaru standing before her, exactly the yokai she needed to see. There were still a few hours before sundown but many preparations that needed to be made and invitations to send. Sending the fastest in all of Gensokyo to gather the others would be the only way to gather them in time as her deliberations had lasted longer than anticipated.

After sending the tengu on her way, she stepped into the shrine and was greeted by four sets of eyes. She knew all of them, of course, but had only officially met the vampire. The green haired one, Satori's sister, had her face scrunched up as if she was trying to solve a puzzle.

After a moment of silence, the girl spoke: "What brings you here today, shikiga… oh. Well, that's bad." Then, turning to her winged companion she added, "Okuu, we are about to have a lot of guests, go start preparing a large meal."

"Care to explain for those of us who are not mind readers?" The rabbit asked with uncharacteristic grumpiness.

"I've called a council, we need to decide what to do next and we have a very short time in which to do so."

"You already have a few ideas about that, don't you?" The vampire asked.

"Oh! Ok, wow, I did not… huh that could work…"

"Please no spoilers miss Komeiji, I'd like to keep that to myself for now."

"Awww… that's no fun!"

"Anyway, getting back on track, we are likely to have a large number of guests start arriving soon. I don't know who exactly will come as I'm not sure about who survived, but we need to be ready." Ran turned, and headed back outside.

"Hey, where are you going?" Called the vampire. "You can't just tell us to do a bunch of work and leave!"

"We are likely to have some oni attending, I'm going out for alcohol."

"Alcohol? What kinds?"

"All kinds, but mostly sake. Yukari kept a large stash that she always stated was 'for emergencies'. I do believe this counts." Ran opened a gap, a portal, to travel to her house and returned with crates of alcohol and serving dishes. She had to make several trips as Yukari had secreted away a truly impressive amount of booze. Half an hour later Marisa arrived with Keine, both tired and worn. They gratefully accepted bowls of miso soup and cups of sake. Soon the notable inhabitants of Gensokyo, those that remained, began to arrive to discuss their future, their fate, their doom.

* * *

Omake: A Strange encounter

_A few hours before the snap_

The Sorcerer Supreme sat on a bit of rubble overlooking a ruined world. Color had been drained from his surroundings; everything was completely motionless. He had used the power of his infinity stone to stop time and think. Their prospects were grim and they had only the smallest sliver of a chance at surviving, at winning. Worse, he had an impossible choice ahead of him. Voluntarily hand over the time stone to Thanos and have the slightest chance of a future victory but have him kill half of all life in the galaxy in a few hours, or deny him and save half the galaxy but doom Earth in the process. Thanos didn't need all 6 stones to destroy a planet and he was a spiteful bastard. He sighed; he knew what he had to do, Thanos destroying Earth in retaliation was not an acceptable outcome. They had to gamble it all on the slight chance of a future victory. The next few hours would be key. First task: a difficult conversation.

A gap opened up next to him, a black rip in the fabric of reality held together by a pair of bright red ribbons and filled with countless eyes. A colorful slash in an otherwise monochromatic world. There was a blond woman hanging halfway out of it: Yukari Yakumo, protector of the sealed realm of Gensokyo. They had met just once before, shortly after he had ascended to being the head of his order in Kamar-Taj.

"Need any assistance Doctor?" She asked him.

"No."

"Are you sure? The situation certainly looks bleak."

"It is, but our chance for victory is zero if you intervene now."

"Oh?" Her eyes focused on Dr. Strange, a sense of weight settled on him as if he was being sized up by an alpha predator. "Explain."

"I used the time stone to look into the future, to follow the possible paths that branch out from this moment to see what actions needed to be taken to ensure victory."

"And?"

"And the situation is bleak indeed. There was only one route that led to victory in fourteen million and sixty five possible futures without the intervention of the Yokai."

"So you do need our help."

"Yes, but not now. It is too late for you to intervene now, Thanos is too powerful to be stopped. Perhaps, had you stepped in earlier the tide could have been turned, but now you would simply be throwing lives away; lives you need to survive and win later. Every timeline in which the yokai intervened in the battle today resulted in failure."

"One path to victory without our assistance, but how many with it?"

"So long as the intervention occurs after today, fourteen more chances for victory."

"That's hardly an improvement."

"Is it not? It's a chance of one in one million, with odds like that victory is practically guaranteed!"

"I did not take you for a fan of Pratchett."

"I've always loved his books," the doctor chuckled before continuing in a more serious voice. "You must not intervene in the coming battle, and you must not inform anyone about what is to occur prior to the event either, there is no victory down that path."

Yukari looked at him with a frown, her eyes shifting from gold to a deep purple as she radiated power. "Very well, just know that if you are wrong, there is nothing that can keep me from erasing you from existence. It will be as if you never were, and only I will remember you. You are not allowed to fail. Don't disappoint me."

The gap closed, Yukari was gone, Dr. Strange let out a shaky breath. He would not fail. Looking back out over his lifeless surroundings he steeled himself, it was time. Color bled back into the world as he released the power of the stone and turned to Tony Stark to give him the grim verdict, slightly edited of course. It wouldn't do for the Avengers to learn about Gensokyo just yet.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Some of you have wondered about my update schedule: it's whenever I have a new chapter done. I have no backlog of chapters or any concrete plans for more than the next few chapters (I have some vague ideas but little more than that) which will slow down updates. On the other hand, unlike with my other story where I have it very much planned out, I don't have to slog through half a dozen chapters (or more- 10s of thousands of words) to reach the interesting bits I have prepared, meaning my interest in continuing this story should remain high as I'm in the middle of the interesting bits. So for now expect new chapters approximately weekly (this one took a while to finish though, sorry), barring me becoming very busy (likely once the fall semester begins), going on vacation (like I am next weekend), or my chapters continuing to grow in length (longer chapters take longer to write).

On another note, yes Ran's identity is important. Yes, some of you will probably guess it and may guess some of my plans. Yes it will be revealed in time, but not just yet.


	7. Council

Chapter 7

The Council of Gensokyo

* * *

Remilia perked up as the fox reentered the room with another pile of crates and stacked them in a corner. Just how much alcohol had Yukari squirreled away? And thinking of alcohol, one of the crates looked rather suspicious. Remilia walked over and examined it. It seemed rather plain and uninteresting, but there was something about the scent… Opening it up, she gasped. Those bottles! She had been saving them for her sister's 500th birthday and they were the best of the best- her case of 1787 Chateau Lafite. She had even been persuaded to part with a few bottles by that punk Jefferson in exchange for her ornate throne (the eventual fate of his wine still amused her). Still, these did not belong in Yukari's collection… just one more reason to dislike the woman. Unfortunately, she was dead so she'd never be able to repay her in kind.

The fox returned again with yet more alcohol, the pile of crates starting to resemble one of the Great Pyramids of Giza, before leaving for even more. Remilia had always disliked the fox, though that was mostly her dislike of Yukari seeping through. That woman, that hag, had been infuriating, always blowing her off or slighting her in some way or other. The sheer nerve of her to just die like that! Remilia owed her a beating for spreading rumors about the validity of her claims about her parentage. Of course she was Dracula's daughter, how dare that woman question her! Yukari made it sound as if she was just some common vampire, nothing special at all. And then she wouldn't even deign to meet her in person, but would send her shikigami, that fox, to her if she needed something. Yet another slight to add to the list.

The fox returned again carrying one final crate. She put it down and looked around, meeting Remilia's eyes as she did so, before turning and heading to the kitchen. That fox… she had always bothered Remilia, and not just because of her connection with the gap hag. Remilia just couldn't read her, ever. It was easy to explain that before, no one could read Yukari and the fox was always acting out her orders so one could never know what it was she had been tasked with. But now? There was no more Yukari but the fox was still inscrutable. She always had this look on her face, as if she could read your mind (which was ridiculous, Koishi was the only one there with that ability). It was a sort of infuriating half-smile, like Remilia was a puppet dancing to her tune with no clue about the end goal. Obviously, the fox was up to something nefarious in calling this council and no matter what happened this evening it would somehow end up in her favor. She may not have been her master, but one couldn't possibly have worked so closely with Yukari without picking up some of her bad habits.

Koishi whacked her over the head. "Enough, your endless internal monologue is annoying to listen to. Drop the petty grudge and let your thoughts move on. Yes, Ran worked for Yukari as her shikigami. Yes, she is plotting something and will probably find a way to make it happen. No, there is nothing you can do about it. Yes, you are being completely unfair to her. Stop it."

Her train of thought derailed, Remilia desperately cast her mind around for a new topic to think of. Anything other than… Oh god! They were dead. They were all dead. What could she do? Why had they left her?

Koishi sighed in exasperation and raised her arm to hit the vampire a second time, but found it unnecessary. The door opened and a very worn Marisa walked in with Keine close behind catching the vampire's attention and snapping her out of her grief. They sat across from her and soon Utsuho came bustling out of the kitchen with two bowls of miso soup and also set sake before them. So Keine lived. That was good, she was irreplaceable to the Village. Remilia wondered who else would be attending, who remained in this realm. She focused her mind on that, think on those who yet live, not on those who… yeah those who live.

Right as the small vampire was regaining her calm, the door slammed open with enough force to shake the building and no matter what anyone might have said to the contrary, the mighty Remilia Scarlet most certainly did not squeak in fright! The woman standing in the doorway, framed by the last light of the sun, looked imperiously upon the small gathering. Remilia had never met her in person, but knew of her. Everyone knew of Yuuka Kazami and anyone with sense stayed out of her way as those that bothered her tended to end up as fertilizer.

"Is yon meagre gathering all that remains of this realm's strongest? If so, I fear for our future."

"Not at all," the fox replied, "you just happen to be one of the first to arrive. I expect at least a dozen more guests will be here shortly."

"A mere dozen shall grace us with their presence?"

"It's hard to say how many survived the Incident, and of those how many will be able to attend. Their loss if they don't. Either way, it is good you survived, your power will help nature recover quickly."

Yuuka, who normally masked her emotions with a veneer of politeness which made predicting her difficult, completely dropped her mask and her face took an ugly expression, a murderous expression. "For destroying mine garden, the perpetrator of this travesty shall suffer for an eternity within the realm of Mugenkan, and I shall oversee their torment."

The sheer violence in her tone made Remilia involuntarily inch away from the enraged flower master. Utsuho, on the other hand, appeared unbothered and quickly placed a bottle of something very strong in Yuuka's hand. The ancient yokai continued to glower menacingly for a moment at nothing in particular before beginning to move towards the table. Before she arrived, there was a great rush of wind as the tengu arrived en masse.

The majority of the company, or at least those that Remilia could see through the open doorway without exposing herself to the rays of the setting sun, were warriors. Two tengu led the rest, both wearing elaborate costumes complete with traditional masks and both were unknown to the vampire. One was very old, an ancient tengu who oozed power. The other wore the mask of chief, but was clearly not Tenma as he had perished during the Incident, and also this new chief was female.

"I do hope that we are not late to the meeting," the ancient tengu said, while stroking his long white beard.

The fox stepped out of the kitchen, past Yuuka, and outside. "Not at all, your party is quite early, though that is to be expected given your speed."

"Good, then that gives us time to set up properly." He spoke quietly with the chief and she nodded. Then, barking an order to the twenty-odd tengu that had arrived with them, they began setting up a large round table and chairs. A fire was also quickly lit at the edge of the shrine's grounds and two of the tengu put on aprons and chef hats. Turning back to the fox he said: "I hope you don't mind us helping set up this council, according to Aya we are likely to see too many visitors to comfortably fit within the building."

"Oh no, not at all. I appreciate the help," the fox responded. Was this, too, part of her nefarious plan? To show obvious favor to the tengu before the meeting even began? What was the vixen playing at?

A few minutes later, at exactly sunset something Remilia could _feel_, it was usually her prompt to wake up for the night, a most unwelcome guest arrived: Eiki Shiki. No yokai wanted to be subject to her infamous lectures- she was a stickler for the rules and an overall pain. Who could possibly be dumb enough to invite…

"Ah good, you made it. I don't see Komachi though," the fox said walking over to the yama. Remilia let her head drop to the table with a groan. The political games the once-shikigami were playing were well beyond her comprehension. Her companion, Koishi, simply patted her gently on the back. By the time the vampire had gotten up and moved outside it appeared that a conversation between the two was wrapping up.

"You may not believe me," the fox was saying, "but I've reformed since. Feel free to give me a lecture, but please leave it for after our council is finished." The vampire shuddered. She had once had the misfortune to run into the yama and only escaped her lecture with the coming of dawn as she had to return home. Not only was the fox several levels beyond her in political maneuvering, but she was also undeniably insane.

It took another half hour for the rest to arrive. Being yokai, they had a propensity to arriving fashionably late. They were, at the same time, more and less than Remilia had expected. There was no sign of the Moriya or the Taoists, and of the Buddhists only Byakuren attended and gave no clue about the state of her temple. Eirin was also attending together with the moon rabbit Reisen, it was the first time Remilia had ever seen the doctor outside of Eientei. Two oni were present, Suika and Kasen, but only one was drinking (the never sober Suika) as Kasen liked to pretend to be a simple hermit and everyone simply went along with her paper-thin deception to avoid hurting her feelings. Nue and Mamizou were conspiring about something half hidden behind a tree while Yuyuko had descended from the netherworld to partake of the feast, her servant Youmu nowhere to be seen. The fox- Ran- appeared to be moving to begin the council when one last person arrived, one Remilia only knew through rumor via tengu newspaper: the hidden god Okina rolled into the shrine on a wheelchair. What little conversation had been occurring before her arrival had stopped and all that remained was an awkward silence and the sound of a squeaky wheel. Okina rolled up to the table, put some food on a plate, and looked around at the waiting yokai.

"Well," she said breaking the silence, "you sure are a lively bunch." There was no response. The hidden god shrugged and began to eat, casually ignoring the tense air. Remilia warily watched her a moment longer before returning to her now cold plate. It was good, solid, Japanese fare that the tengu had served, but she wasn't feeling particularly hungry (or thirsty) and simply picked at it.

After some time as conversation had failed to restart, their host the fox daintily wiped her mouth with a silk napkin and stood. "Thank you all for coming," she began seriously. "We currently face the greatest danger to our realm since its inception." There was silence, so everyone clearly heard Marisa scoff: "What danger? Everyone's already dead." The witch's cheeks were red, she had clearly had too much to drink already.

"What danger indeed? The danger I speak of is the failing of the Great Hakurei Barrier," there was a quiet murmur in response from those who had not already heard the disastrous news. "We have hidden behind the barrier for 134 years and thought ourselves safe. Safe from detection, safe from the outside world, safe from a slow death through lack of belief and magic, safe from fading into nothingness. And yet, have we really saved ourselves from any of that? We remain here as little more than phantoms from a forgotten age, deluding ourselves in our belief that we continue to live. We cling to the past but have no future, we linger in this twilight realm in the hope that we can postpone the oncoming night and final end of our race. And now, not only are half our number gone, snatched away from us in an instant, but our only protection from the passing of the years is about to fail for among those taken from us by the Incident are Reimu Hakurei and Yukari Yakumo.

"So we need to decide, we need a plan: what happens next? What becomes of our once mighty race? Will we pass silently into the oncoming night, will we impotently rage against the dying of the light? Do we go out in a blaze of glory? Do we push forward in the hope of reaching a new dawn? Or do we continue to fade into nothingness until not even stories remain? This is what we must decide here and now."

The fox sat back down, and for a time there was silence as her words were contemplated. 'Was that really what we were doing?' Remilia wondered. 'Not living, not growing, not becoming more, but merely existing, subsisting?' She thought on her own motivations, her reasons for coming to this land, this realm so far from her home of centuries. Her reasons, or at least what she had claimed were her reasons when she had spoken to Yukari before transferring her mansion over, were to escape the constant annoyance posed by vampire hunters and to expand into a new land where her talents could shine. Europe was flooded with vampires, many who claimed to be descended from Dracula but were little more than worthless bottom feeders, nothing more than fodder for the hunters. In such a place how could she stand out? How could she shine? So many claimed heritage from the famous and powerful that the claims of those who did have such ties were immediately dismissed as another poser. Remilia had accrued some influence over the years in the region around the Rhine in which she lived, but despite her awesome power few would follow her (as they should!) due to her gender and… appearance. So she left for greener pastures.

Well… there was also the fact that the vampires _were _declining. It had begun with the advent of the Great War. What should have been an all-you-can-eat feast for her kind had turned into a slaughterhouse as vampires were chewed up by the trenches just as easily as humans. World War II was even worse and the great purge by the Carmilla faction of those outside their clan, conveniently timed to Stalin's own purges within the USSR, cut their population in half. Meals were harder to secure, the vampire hunters were savvier, and their numbers much depleted, there was little future for the Scarlets in Europe. It didn't help that they were viewed with suspicion as Remilia had seen such events on the horizon and warned her fellow bloodsuckers ahead of time. She had of course been completely ignored and then, after the disastrous events occurred, vilified for attempting to save them. Eventually it was too much- a mere 100 vampires remained in Europe where once they had been 10,000 strong, magic was fading and other supernatural creatures had also gone into hiding, and the 98 other vampires all held her personally responsible for the fate of their species. Soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain she left to live quietly in a far eastern wonderland. And look how well that had turned out for her- she was alone, her greatest fear come to life. In fear she had fled Europe, fled her Fate, and yet her Fate came for her all the same. She had tricked herself into thinking she had escaped, into thinking that she was living, thriving even! And now the truth was revealed at last. Where could she go from here that did not simply lead to yet more despair?

She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Koishi. The satori did not need to speak, Remilia could understand her well enough. They had both lost much, the only way to go from here was forward- to forge new bonds and hope for the dawn. The real question now was "how?"

The ever practical Keine was the first to break the contemplative silence that had taken hold of the council. "Is it possible to save the barrier, and if not, then could we build a new one?"

"In order," the fox replied, "no and probably not. Do remember that the barrier was the culmination of centuries of planning and even if we reused those plans we are unlikely to succeed without Yukari's power over boundaries. Kasen? Okina? Do either of you have anything to contribute, you helped form it after all."

After a few meaningful glances between the two yokai sages, Kasen stood and spoke. "No, we don't have much to contribute. I took a brief glance at the barrier and, as Ran said, it's doomed. We can't even rebuild it as we are missing several of those responsible for its creation. Even worse, the barrier was already weakening before yesterday's Incident as one of its creators, a rather ancient sorceress who lived in the outside world, died several years ago."

"So give it to me straight, doc," Marisa said, not bothering to rise, "how long do we have?"

"24 hours," Ran responded seriously. "But we might be able to eek out a week if we work hard enough on the barrier."

"So the Great Hakurei Barrier is doomed and we cannot remake it," Eirin said, concerned. "Is it possible to create a lesser barrier that could still hide us?"

Some more significant glances were exchanged. This time Okina conceded and answered the Lunarian genius: "It's possible, but there would be no recreating the properties of our current defense that make it so powerful, no way to keep magic from leaking out and leaving none to sustain us."

"Actually, that's where you're wrong," Mamizou cut in smugly. "The outside world is regaining magic; it has been for several years now." This, this changed everything. If magic was back, then perhaps…

"It wouldn't be a problem then, to build a lesser barrier to keep us hidden, would it?" Eirin pressed.

How odd. Based on Tewi's tale, Remilia would have expected a very different reaction than to simply hide away once more. While she was contemplating Eirin's reasoning, Koishi quite literally gave voice to her thoughts: "I thought you would have been chomping at the bit to avenge Kaguya, what are you so afraid of?"

Eirin didn't respond, so Tewi responded for her: "The Lunarians." Eirin shot the rabbit a dark look, and was ignored. "They are a nasty lot and have been hunting Kaguya and Eirin for centuries with this barrier the only thing that's kept them safe from their wrath for a while now."

"Eh? Why're ya so scared of some pansy moon folk?" Suika asked.

"You don't know them like I do. They are powerful and vengeful and if this Incident also struck them, they will come to earth in the name of revenge even if they can't locate us. If they can locate us, such as not having a barrier to hide in, we will be captured and tortured until we wish we were dead."

"Eh, let them come. Maybe I can get a good fight out of it."

"By the way, why are you in Gensokyo right now Suika?" Kasen asked. "Last I heard, you were living in heaven with the celestials."

"I was simply minding my business when they kicked me out without warning and closed the gates. Not a clue what happened ta them, if they was caught up in this Incident as well or not, but they seemed mighty spooked. Pompous jerks," she finished with a growl, before taking a long swig from her gourd as if to wash away a bad taste.

Well that certainly sounded like the celestials. Remilia bet that the next time Suika managed to enter their realm that she'd drink every last drop of alcohol they had in spite. As interesting as that news was, it was the resurgence of magic she wanted to learn about. "Mamizou, do you know what caused the return of magic to the outside world?" She asked.

Mamizou frowned and thought for a minute before responding. "Only rumors, nothing more. I think it has something to do with superpowered humans from the outside making a mess of things. There was also something about aliens and a place called the New United States of York or something." The what? Clearly Mamizou was not as knowledgeable as she claimed if her sense of geography was _that_ bad. Still, aliens in New York? What was the world coming to?

"Aliens you say?" Nue said, eyes glittering. "How very mysterious!"

"How much magic?" Remilia asked, ignoring the outburst.

"Maybe about the same as at the start of the 20th century? Enough to sustain us for sure, but not enough for the formation of new yokai. Belief in science is still very prevalent, and in some ways stronger than ever, but it seems that there is now also significant belief in the unexplained or magical which has caused this resurgence."

"Whatever the cause, we can make use of this," the tengu chief said seriously. To her surprise, Remilia recognized the voice. Why was Aya chief? Who could have possibly thought _that _was a good idea?

"Indeed," the fox said. "We are at a crossroads; the return of magic has opened yet more paths for us to take. The fate of Gensokyo rests squarely upon our shoulders. What we decide tonight will have far-reaching consequences, consequences that could very well extend far beyond our borders. And thus, the question remains, how will we proceed from here?"

It was Yuyuko who had not spoken a single word since her arrival that responded in her usual somewhat light and airy tone: "We hunt." She paused and looked each person in the eye. "We hunt down the one who caused this. We hunt them and force them to reverse the incident."

"And if they can't?" Koishi asked softly.

"If they can't, then we kill them."

"Death is too light a punishment for the one responsible," Eiki Shiki growled out.

"Perhaps," Yuyuko responded, "but the punishment can always be inflicted after their death."

"Even hell is too good for them, I'd rather…"

"We can discuss hypothetical punishments all we desire later," Yuuka cut in, interrupting the yama. "But first we must locate said perpetrator. Dost anyone know where to even begin?"

Silence was her answer.

"Whilst promised vengeance be an excellent motivator, there be more immediate concerns that require attention."

"Indeed," the fox agreed, "Eirin has suggested that we create a lesser barrier and continue more or less as we have. Tell me, does everyone agree with this course of action?"

"Hell no!" Suika roared, jumping atop the table. "That's the coward's path! If magic has truly returned ta Japan, then I say we conquer it! Who is with me?"

Conquer Japan? Now that was a course of action the vampire could support. But before she could voice her agreement, an unexpected person spoke. "Okuu thinks that sounds like a lot of fun, count Okuu in!"

"No." Koishi's response was immediate. "You are not allowed to join the little oni in her conquest of Japan, I'd rather we didn't give the country PTSD." Utsuho pouted.

"I'm in," Remilia said immediately after the nuclear hell raven was reprimanded. "We won't need to worry about running out of magic and it won't be long before the humans outside discover us, so let's strike preemptively."

"Conquer Japan? That sounds like far too much work," Aya said. "I've got more than enough paperwork just looking after one village of tengu, but add in trying to manage millions of humans? Count me out."

"Eh? You don't wanna fight?"

"I never said that, just that I don't want to conquer Japan as a whole. What if we just conquered the people around us and built our own kingdom?"

"No one is going to be conquering anything!" Byakuren cut in. "Why would you do such an outrageous thing? We will coexist and reintegrate into Japan."

"While coexistence sounds good and all," Keine said speaking up, "the humans of the outside world are so different than us that I don't think it will work the way you hope."

"Not to mention," Mamizou added, "humans hate things that are different or things that they can't understand. They're more likely to send a bunch of exorcists at us than they are to let us live peacefully beside them. Coexistence is a pipe dream at best."

"Maybe so," Byakuren responded, "but to cede defeat without even trying?"

"That is why we must attack! Strike fast, strike hard, destroy the opposition before they even know what happened, and then _force _them to coexist because it's their only choice!" The battle-hungry oni replied fiercely.

"Do know," the fox said cutting into the debate, "that whatever our eventual actions, the outside world was also hit by the Incident and is in complete chaos."

"That'll just make them easier to conquer!"

"And that is why they need peaceful coexistence more than ever! If we go and offer our assistance in this time of need surely they will come to accept us."

"As the representative of the Underground, neither of these actions sound good to me," Koishi said and turned toward Byakuren. "Given that we can't even coexist with those of you living above ground in Gensokyo- that's why we're underground in the first place- how could we possibly coexist with humans from the outside world? Do remember that many of those living underground are man-eating monsters." Then she turned toward Suika. "On the other hand, what need have we for conquest? We already have a little kingdom of our own. And again, those underground are, for the most part, horrible monsters and I shudder to think what would happen if they were unleashed upon Japan. The best option for us and everyone else is to create a new barrier."

"Bah, who cares about the humans? Besides, I used to be one of those living underground myself so what's the problem?" Suika ask carelessly.

"What's the problem? That's exactly the problem! Why are you always like this Suika?" Kasen said angrily.

"So long as I've got people to fight and booze to drink, I'm good. Conquering Japan will achieve both of those goals."

"This is exactly why we need a new barrier even if it can't hold a candle to the old one. To keep unfriendly attention off of us and protect Japan from maniacs like Suika and the monsters underground," Mamizou chimed in.

"But if we carve out a small kingdom for ourselves and slap a barrier on it, we can accomplish both goals at once! There's no need to conquer the whole of Japan, there's plenty of good fights to be had right here in Gensokyo, but there's also no need to hide away completely and pretend nothing has changed!" Aya countered.

"And if we hide ourselves away, are we ever going to have a chance to punish the one who put us in this position in the first place? It's a terrible idea." Yuyuko's voice was much louder than normal in an effort to be heard over the rapidly increasing din.

Soon the council had devolved into a shouting match with no one willing to concede to anyone else. Remilia was trying to explain something to Koishi but had to yell just to be heard, but Koishi wasn't listening as she was yelling at Suika and Utsuho about something or other, meanwhile Suika was yelling at Eirin, Eiki Shiki was loudly lecturing (read: yelling) at anyone who would listen (which was nobody), Byakuren was yelling at Aya, Mamizou was yelling at Yuuka, Nue was yelling contradictory things at various people to stir up trouble, and Keine was yelling at her. Remilia could barely think given the sheer level of noise and she certainly couldn't make out what any one person was trying to say. The only people at the table who were completely quiet were Okina (who seemed to think the whole thing was pointless), Marisa (who looked completely out of her depth), and the fox Ran who was calmly sipping sake- the eye at the center of a typhoon.

A loud ringing noise suddenly cut through the cacophony and startled the group into silence. Ran stood up. "What a group we make, squabbling like children fighting over a toy. Let's see if I've got this right, there are three general ideas being thrown around: conquest, coexistence, or creating a new barrier. Now, let's act like rational adults. Who is in favor of conquest, whether that be for Japan as a whole or on a smaller scale? Just raise your hands please. So, in favor of this are Suika, Remilia, Yuuka, Utsuho, and Aya. Next, who wants peaceful integration or coexistence? Byakuren, Kasen, Tewi, Marisa, and Keine. Ok, finally what about making a new barrier? Eirin, Reisen, Mamizou, Koishi, and Okina. Well that's a problem, we have an even split- five votes each way plus a few who did not vote."

The fox held her hands up forestalling a second shouting match. "Now now, we do have a way deal with this like rational beings. Because we were unable to reach a majority, we will simply have to figure things out in a different way. In a Gensokyo way. I hereby propose that we solve this with danmaku. We will all participate in a tournament, and whoever wins will decide our path. All in favor say 'aye'."

"AYE!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

It has been pointed out to me by several people that Remilia is not Dracula's daughter but instead (falsely) claims to be descended from Vlad Tepes III/Vlad Dracula, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. I know that. But given her age (500) and his death (1476) if she's descended from him like she claims (which may or may not be true, but she certainly thinks it is) then she can't be farther down the family tree than granddaughter. But if after his death he just went around as the vampire Dracula it would be easy/likely for her to be his daughter rather than some distant descendant, if the claims are true. Either way, it's an inconsequential detail that fits her character.


End file.
